Assessment of spectrum value: The case of a second digital dividend in Europe

This work assesses the perceived value of 700MHz according to the impact that this spectrum could have in decreasing rollout costs. 700MHz spectrum, recently allocated to mobile network operators (MNOs), could help increase coverage in rural area, as well as aid capacity-constrained networks. In both cases, the use of this spectrum could reduce the rollout costs of a Radio Access Network (RAN) based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. The perceived value of 700MHz is presented in this article as the difference in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of deploying the network with and without this spectrum. However, the rollout costs can differ greatly among MNOs if they previously hold different spectrum portfolios that may or may not include sub-1GHz frequencies. The results of this study reveal that an MNO not holding the additional 2×10MHz at 800MHz, would perceive 62% more value of 2×10MHz at 700MHz, than an MNO that does hold 2×10MHz at 800MHz. In addition, the value of this spectrum comes largely from urban areas, where networks are strongly capacity-constrained. This leads to the conclusion that under current demand forecasts, low-frequency spectrum starts being more valuable for simply being spectrum, rather than for being low frequency. Indeed, the results prove that adding spectrum with similar propagation characteristics to a coverage-constrained network is of no value. •This work assesses the perceived value of 700MHz spectrum for Mobile Network Operators•The value is estimated based on how the spectrum decreases 4G network rollout costs•MNO not holding spectrum at 800MHz perceives 62% higher value for 2×10MHz at 700MHz•The value comes from urban areas since networks are capacity-constrained