Lee Sanders
Lee has been at the forefront of spectrum developments across the world for more than 20 years, helping operators to bid in auctions and regulators to formulate spectrum policy.
Lee has over 20 years’ experience of advising operators, regulators and government bodies across a broad range of topics, including network sharing, fibre networks and transaction support. Notably, Lee has extensive expertise in spectrum issues and has led numerous projects to help operators to develop spectrum strategies and to value spectrum. He has supported operators to prepare for and bid in more than 25 spectrum auctions worldwide. He has also led several high-profile spectrum-related studies for leading regulators such as the European Commission, Ofcom (UK) and the IDA (Singapore).
In 2015/16 Lee was seconded to Telstra’s network strategy team, where he led a range of spectrum and network strategy projects.
Lee holds B.A. and M.Eng. degrees in Manufacturing Engineering, both from the University of Cambridge, UK.
Examples of projects which illustrate the breadth of Lee’s experience include:
Support to mobile operators to prepare for more than 25 spectrum auctions worldwide – including consultation support, valuation, bid strategy development and round-by-round auction support.
Support to a European regulator to design the process for a major multiband spectrum auction.
Development of a detailed 5-year network strategy for a European mobile operator.
Business case assessment for the second mobile licence in the Bahamas, followed by bid strategy support during the auction.
Business case assessment of RAN sharing for two mobile operators in Western Europe and subsequent assistance in the creation of a new joint venture.
Assessment of the business case to decommission the PSTN/copper network for a fixed operator in the Asia-Pacific region.
Assessment of the case for deploying Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) across an operator’s mobile, fixed and broadcast networks.
A report for the BBC and Channel 4 to investigate the merits of AIP for broadcasting spectrum.
Study for the European Commission to assess the competition impacts of zero-rating in broadband markets.
Assessment of the mobile and fixed markets in a Middle Eastern country to identify regulatory actions of priority.
Evaluation of the business case for alternative operators to use fibre unbundling on behalf of a Western European regulator.
Articles & reports
Wind Tre’s RANco sale – a template for infrastructure investment?
23 February 2024
EQT’s attempt to acquire Wind Tre’s Radio Access Network may not have come to fruition, but it would have established one of the first independent RANco in Europe. […]
A new direction in European telco merger policy?
16 February 2024
For years, the European Commission has resisted consolidation but are we about to see a new direction in favour of scale?
The Commission’s highly anticipated white paper on […]
Is this the end for single wholesale networks?
26 May 2023
Championed by some as a route to universal access to mobile services, single wholesale networks (SWN) have failed to deliver. Lee Sanders, Managing Partner at Aetha Consulting, wonders […]
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