Optimising Usage of the 30% of Spectrum below 15 GHz Currently used for Defence in the UK

The MOD, which is the main public sector spectrum user in the UK, hold about a third of the spectrum below 15 GHz. The introduction of Administered Incentive Pricing (AIP) aims to recover the opportunity cost of this spectrum and it is estimated that MOD currently pay £55 million per year in AIP (according to the Cave audit). However, the opportunity cost of this spectrum is thought to be much higher and the AIP charge will inevitably increase substantially if MOD does not rethink the way it uses spectrum in the UK. In addition to this, demand for MOD spectrum is dependent on location and deployment requirements. This raises the possibility of the release of large tracts of spectrum, either on a fixed basis or shared in some way.