LICENCE DURATION
EU states push against wireless spectrum plan
Germany and Italy oppose a proposal to set a 25-year minimum on wireless spectrum licences
Germany and Italy are among 15 EU member states pushing back against a proposal to set a 25-year minimum on wireless spectrum licences, thwarting the telecoms industry’s hopes for a more co-ordinated approach across the bloc. The European Commission has tried for years to coordinate how national governments allocate so-called wireless spectrum, or parcels of airwaves, to mobile operators such as Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and EE to create a single European telecoms market. Telecoms companies have long called for a more coordinated spectrum policy. Licence durations vary across Europe, making it harder for the firms to operate on a larger scale and compete with US rivals. But member states have in general been very sensitive about any oversight of wireless spectrum by the EU. The sale of spectrum can raise billions of euros for governments. The commission sought to tackle this by proposing a minimum spectrum licence duration of 25 years in a reform proposal in September 2016. But in ...
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