Graham Louth
Throughout his 30+ years in the telecoms industry, Graham has been at the forefront of regulatory thinking on a wide range of issues from network cost modelling to spectrum management; he continues to provide expert advice on a range of topics to operators and regulators around the world.
Graham has extensive experience in all aspects of spectrum policy, management and regulation, as well as having worked in areas such as regulatory accounting, incremental cost modelling (fixed and mobile), retail and wholesale price control, margin squeeze, universal service provision and tariff analysis. Prior to joining Aetha in 2014, Graham was the Director of Spectrum Policy at Ofcom, responsible for mobile spectrum and auctions, as well as being a member of the Ofcom Senior Management Team. His early career was as a consultant with Analysys Consulting, ultimately as head of their regulatory practice worldwide.
Graham holds an M.A. and post-graduate qualifications in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge.
Examples of projects which illustrate the breadth of Graham’s experience include:
Advice and support to mobile operators preparing to participate in a range of spectrum auctions, including: responding to regulatory policy consultations; detailed review of proposed auction rules and lobbying for changes; design and development of a suitable bidding strategy; using mock auctions to both test the proposed bidding strategy and help the operator prepare to participate in the auction; design and development of bid tracking tools to help the operator follow the selected bidding strategy; and support as required throughout the real auction process to ensure the best possible outcome for the operator.
Advice and support to governments and national regulators on the design and delivery of successful spectrum awards, including not only the design and delivery of a suitable auction (where appropriate), but also measures to protect and promote competition, measures to promote roll-out and coverage, the terms and conditions of spectrum licences, and appropriate payment terms.
Expert advice and independent expert reports on a range of topics, in the context of regulatory, competition, arbitration and legal proceedings, including on: the regulation of mobile termination rates; the regulation of retail prices, including international roaming rates; the appropriate level and structure of mobile spectrum fees; the differences between national roaming and network and spectrum sharing, and there potential competition impacts; the limitations and likely impacts on consumers and operators of mandatory national roaming as a solution to ‘not-spots’; and the likely competition impacts of proposed mergers and spectrum acquisitions by mobile network operators.
Expert advice and support to both operators and regulators with the design and development of cost models of both fixed and mobile networks for a range of regulatory and business purposes including: mobile call termination rate regulation; fixed call termination rate regulation; retail price management and control; margin squeeze analysis; and universal service costing.
Articles & reports
Why spectrum values are falling
April 2025
This report, commissioned by BT, challenges the assumption made by Ofcom in its calculation of annual licence fees (ALFs) for 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz spectrum that spectrum value […]
India’s spectrum auctions: limited supply or limitless prices?
28 February 2025
India’s Union Cabinet has recently approved the refarming of 687MHz of spectrum from various government ministries for the deployment of 5G and future 6G services. It estimates […]
Auction vs Extension: which path is best for expiring licences?
20 February 2025
Spectrum licences awarded in the past two decades are now expiring in many countries and with this many regulators face an important decision: should licences be extended […]
Some of our clients
