Rapidly developing wireless and mobile network technologies and consumers’ increasing appetite for data are driving a significant increase in demand for spectrum.

With little or no changes in spectrum policy over the past two decades, the Government announced a review into spectrum allocation, regulation and licensing.

Wireless spectrum sits at the core of Australia’s growing digital economy and is a critical resource for multiple purposes. It is a resource that supports essential services such as safety-of-life and security and improves the quality of life of users. It is critical infrastructure enabling production for industrial, commercial, educational and other social services. The economic value of Australia’s spectrum to the national economy is estimated to be A$177bn over 15 years. While the demand for wireless and mobile spectrum is increasing and the transmission capacity has increased due to technological advancements, spectrum still remains a scarce resource, which requires a streamlined allocation and management process among the alternative competing use cases.  In this report, we analyse some of the key recommendations from the recently announced spectrum reforms around spectrum pricing and Commonwealth held spectrum.