 The impact of spectrum set-asides on private and public mobile networksJakub Zagdanski, Pau Castells and Kalvin Bahia Telecommunications Policy, 2025, vol. 49, issue 7 Abstract: Seeking to accelerate digitalisation of enterprises, some regulators have started relying on radio spectrum set-asides for enterprises. Set-asides reserve radio bandwidth for potential use by enterprises in specific locations. This study empirically examines the impact of spectrum set-asides on the adoption of mobile connectivity technologies by enterprises, and the impact of setting spectrum aside on the public network quality. We find no evidence that set-asides have accelerated adoption of private networks or more broadly defined digitalisation of enterprises as measured by the number of licenced IoT connections. However, use of radio spectrum set-asides presents a trade-off, as it diminishes spectrum availability for public networks, potentially affecting download speeds and overall service quality. We find that 100 MHz of additional spectrum nationally was linked to 4.5 Mbps greater download speeds (a 24 % increase). These findings underscore the need for cautious policy approaches and consideration of alternative spectrum access frameworks. Keywords: Radio spectrum; Spectrum policy; Private mobile networks; 5G (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:telpol:v:49:y:2025:i:7:s0308596125000886 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2025.102991 Access Statistics for this article Telecommunications Policy is currently edited by Erik Bohlin More articles in Telecommunications Policy from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.