Breakout Session Information

16:00 – 16:15

Session 6: Breakout Sessions

Breakout 1: Not just the 'digital-haves'! To what extent can 5G help to tackle connectivity 'not spots'?
Breakout 2: Spectrum pricing for 5G awards

16:00 – 16:15

Breakout 1: Not just the 'digital-haves'! To what extent can 5G help to tackle connectivity 'not spots'?

Around Europe, regulators are looking to work with mobile operators and other connectivity provides to help
eliminate rural 'not spots' and continue the path towards the ultimate goal of universal coverage. Both
directly and indirectly, 5G can play a part in achieving this. Directly, through initiatives to fund the roll-out of
additional base stations and provide 5G in currently under-served areas; and indirectly, through the
inclusion of 'coverage obligations' (or other agreements) as part of 5G auctions to ensure that winning
bidders increase the coverage of 2G, 3G or 4G connectivity in rural areas. This session will look at the
different approaches that are being seen in countries across Europe, and at how 5G can ultimately help to
close rather than widen the digital divide.

- When can rural areas expect to start benefiting from 5G, and how can it be ensured that 5G does not
widen the digital divide?
- What will 5G connectivity in rural areas look like, and how may it differ from that in cities?
- What approaches to tackling rural ‘not spots’ are being seen in different countries around Europe?
- What role should policymakers be playing in helping to deliver a solution, and what tools are available to
them to do this?
- What work is being done to deliver connectivity along roads? By increasing the overall reach of
infrastructure, could these then be used as ‘branches’ to make it easier to then extend connectivity to
nearby rural areas?
- What are pros / cons of using coverage obligations as part of 5G auctions to increase rural connectivity,
and what other approaches (for example infrastructure sharing) can also be part of the solution?
- How can mobile operators work alongside other public or private actors to improve rural coverage?
- What are the key spectrum bands that can be used and are necessary spectrum requirements in place?

16:00 – 16:15

Breakout 2: Spectrum pricing for 5G awards

Europe is about half way through the process of selling 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum, and many
regulators are now planning awards of mmWave bands. This session will offer us the opportunity to take
stock, and to look at the outcomes of awards to date, both in Europe and beyond. It will examine pricing
structures and models that are being used and trends that may be emerging, before discussing the
implications of these for future 5G awards.

- What approaches have been used in awards of 5G spectrum across Europe and elsewhere to date,
and what results have been seen?
- Are regulators using the right award formats, including types of auction?
- To what extent are auctions the best approach, or can other approaches (eg allocation in exchange
for coverage obligations) offer a good alternative in some situations?
- Are there any patterns or trends that are emerging and what implications may these have for future
5G awards?
- Are spectrum costs sustainable given the huge increase in supply of frequencies for mobile?
- As we move from completing the current set of 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum awards to then
starting the allocation of mmWave spectrum, are any changes to pricing models required and if so
what?