Licence cancellations may bolster the satellite industry’s arguments for access to mmWave frequencies in particular
Vodafone and Dense Air fail to meet base station rollout obligations: On 15 December 2022, Ireland’s telecoms regulator ComReg issued two separate notifications of a finding of non-compliance to Vodafone and Dense Air with respect to 3.6GHz band regulations. The operators have been advised that their non-compliance relates to them not “working and using” the 15 base stations required individually in at least four counties in the South East region. In addition, Vodafone has been advised that its non-compliance concerns it not deploying and operating the required number of base stations within three years of its licence start date. Both telcos have been given until 16 January 2023 to state their views on the matter, including any proposal to remedy the non-compliance within a reasonable timeframe. ComReg’s notifications came amid a multi-band spectrum award, where Vodafone emerged as the biggest spender – it spent almost €146m in the main stage to acquire frequencies in the 700MHz, 2100MHz and 2.6GHz bands.
South Korea cancels mmWave spectrum licences: ComReg’s actions follow a similar move by the regulator in South Korea, which has penalised operators for failing to reach a mandated base station deployment target using 28GHz spectrum – a key mmWave band. In November 2022, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced that it had cancelled the five-year licences of KT and LG Uplus as they failed to reach the minimum number required, with both deploying less than 10% of the 15,000 target within the three-year deadline. SKT, which achieved just over 10%, had its licence period cut by six months to 31 May 2023 and has been warned by the MSIT to pick up the pace.
28GHz deployments hampered by a lack of compatible devices: South Korea’s 3.5GHz and 28GHz auction in 2018 was one of the world’s first awards of 5G spectrum. While KT, LG Uplus and SKT have each met the target of deploying 22,500 base stations in the 3.5GHz band, the rollout of sites employing mmWave spectrum is far less progressed. This is likely due in part to an immature device ecosystem, with no compatible handsets available on the market. The MSIT considers this situation “worrisome” and is concerned that it could prevent the country maintaining its position as a mobile telecoms powerhouse – particularly as countries such as Japan and the US press ahead with 28GHz rollouts. For the satellite industry, the licence cancellations could lend support to the argument that the 28GHz band should not be assigned to mobile (at least not exclusively); however, the MSIT has stated that it is yet to identify any viable alternative licensees for the freed-up spectrum.
