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About NERA
Since 1961, NERA has provided unparalleled guidance on the most important market, legal, and regulatory questions of the day. Our work has shaped industries and policy around the world. Our field-leading experts and deep experience allows us to provide rigorous analysis, reliable expert testimony, and data-powered policy recommendations for the world’s leading law firms and corporations as well as regulators and governments. Our experience, integrity, and economic ingenuity mean you can depend on us in the face of your biggest economic and financial challenges.
NERA has released the first edition of the “NERA Spectrum Report.” In this inaugural report, Senior Managing Director Richard Marsden, Managing Directors Hans-Martin Ihle and Soren Tang Sorensen, and Consultant Julien Martin use the Gigabase—a database of spectrum awards maintained by NERA’s auctions team—to showcase spectrum awards data to end-2025 for a sample of 65 leading economies, including all OECD countries, EU member states, other top 50 economies, and Taiwan.
The NERA Global Spectrum Price Index and NERA Auction Format Tracker were first developed for Mr. Marsden’s book, Round-by-Round: Learnings from the First 35 Years of Spectrum Auctions, published in 2024 using data to end-2023. Round-by-Round is essential reading for practitioners engaged in implementing auctions or developing bid strategies. For students of game theory and mechanism design, it provides real-world insights to complement the extensive scholarly literature on auction formats and rules.
Highlights from the 2026 report include:
- Global spectrum prices hit a historic low in 2024, but 2025 data provide a first indication that the long-run decline of prices across the 5G era may have run its course.
- Seventeen leading economies have now allocated over 1000 MHz of spectrum below 8 GHz to mobile operators. However, the average volume of sub-8 GHz spectrum released for mobile in leading economies in 915 MHz.
- The average price paid for low-band spectrum is $0.42 and the average for mid-band spectrum is $0.17, both three-year moving averages ending in 2025.
- Japan continues to top the table for spectrum allocation below 8 GHz to mobile at 1495 MHz, owing to its pioneering release of spectrum at 4 GHz.
- The United Kingdom has rocketed to the top of the mmWave allocation league table, ahead of the United States, with a 2025 auction of 5400 MHz.
- The clock auction continues its ascendancy as the most widely used format for spectrum allocation, ahead of the traditional SMRA.
- There have been 158 new spectrum awards in leading economies in the 5G era (2017–2025). The sample of new awards in 2024–2025 is relatively thin compared with earlier years.
NERA is a leading advisor to governments, regulatory agencies, utilities, and private-sector companies on the design and implementation of auctions. Our team helps regulators develop spectrum roadmaps and set policy on spectrum allocation and pricing. We also assist broadcasters, mobile operators, and satellite operators in responding to government consultations and support litigants in disputes over spectrum policy and auction outcomes.
If you would like assistance on any matter concerning radio spectrum that requires expert economic input, please contact one of our experts below.