December 2016

The Ministry is in the process of developing its plans for the award of spectrum in these three bands and sought to understand the optimum timing and conditions for the award of the spectrum, prior to undertaking a consultation on its initial proposals. In our report we assessed the strengths of linkages between the three bands in order to ascertain whether the spectrum should be awarded through one combined auction or two (or more) separate auction processes. We made recommendations on the packaging of spectrum in each of the bands and highlighted other associated issues raised by stakeholders that the Ministry should consider (for example, in relation to topics such as auction complexity, coverage obligations and contiguity of spectrum holdings in the 2100MHz band).