Flexible spectrum and future business models for the mobile industry

The concept of flexible spectrum is often considered as a medium-to-long-term solution to overcome some of the current inefficiencies and high entry barriers plaguing the mobile industry. Increasingly, a cognitive pilot channel (CPC) is regarded as a central enabler for flexible spectrum. This paper outlines the CPC concept from a business point of view and clarifies its current status in the standardization and regulation fields. The idea of a worldwide CPC will be under consideration by the World Radio Conference in 2011. Based on several potential CPC implementations, the paper identifies a number of flexible spectrum business configurations and revenue sharing models. It also performs an initial forward-looking evaluation of these models using a business model scorecard approach, and finds that while the scope appears to be limited for a fully competitive, cross-operator spectrum market, several platform models (e.g. association or consortium models) stand out as feasible options.