A number of governments in the Americas are introducing more flexible rules for spectrum fees, including allowing telecoms operators to pay reduced spectrum fees in exchange for network coverage commitments, especially in rural areas.

In December 2022, Colombia started a regulatory sandbox on the exchange of spectrum fees for coverage commitments. By the end of 2020, the government also approved rules for spectrum payments to be exchanged for coverage commitments in telecommunications universal access projects.

Also in December 2022, the Ecuadorian regulator approved amendments to the spectrum licence fees and spectrum use rights regulation. The amendments allow telecoms operators to allocate up to 50% of their annual spectrum fees to national priority projects to improve connectivity in rural or isolated areas.

In April 2022, Peru published a list of rural localities eligible for the deduction of infrastructure investment in new mobile technology (3G or higher) from the annual spectrum fees. This followed the approval in February 2021 of lower annual spectrum fees in exchange for investment in rural areas.

The Brazilian regulator, Anatel, can also fully or partially convert licence renewal fees into investment targets, with the targets needing to be established “according to government guidelines”. In addition, in the latest 5G award, Anatel allowed the conversion of any winning bids that exceeded the reserve price into additional coverage obligations.

Cullen International’s research reveals how different countries in the Americas define fees for issuing a spectrum licence and which other fees must be paid by operators to use these frequencies, as well as any initiatives that would reduce this burden on mobile operators.

All eleven studied countries charge upfront fees when spectrum is awarded and all countries, except the USA, also charge annual recurring fees for mobile spectrum. Canada charges recurring spectrum fees only in the case of renewed licences.

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