Radio Spectrum fee -Lessons from Sweden

­The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) has announced that it will gradually implement a new model for spectrum charges starting from next year that will penalise license holders who have not maximised the use of their radio spectrum. In general, it could be said that the new model means that licence holders with a large holding of spectrum and with no rollout, or a low degree of rollout, will be imposed higher charges. Licence holders with a high degree of rollout and a small holding of spectrum will have lower charges. Licence holders will have to pay more for spectrum in low frequency bands. However, the total charges imposed by PTS for the area of radio will not increase.

The new model for charges is technology-neutral and will be implemented gradually over the course of several years for various types of licence. The first category in line for implementation is block and television licences in 2010. RTTE fees will also be changed for block and television licences.

In The new model, Licence holders will find it easy to anticipate future annual charges, which will for example benefit the second-hand market.