The objective of this economic study is to respond to the following issues which are divided into three categories:

Category 1: Strategies for economic approaches to national spectrum management and their financing

1. What are the underlying principles that have been taken into consideration by various administrations in their approaches to financing the maintenance and development of national spectrum management?

2. What economic approaches have been, or are intended to be used to promote efficient national spectrum management in different frequency bands?

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these various economic approaches to national spectrum management?

4. What are the factors (e.g. geographical, topographical, infrastructural, social, legal) that could affect these approaches and how would they vary with the use of radio in a country and the level of that country's development?

Category 2: Assessment, for spectrum planning and strategic development purposes, of the benefits arising from the use of the radio spectrum

1. What are the benefits that accrue to an administration from the use of radio within its country and how can they be quantified, allowing them to be represented in an economic form so as to enable a comparison of the benefits and costs of particular spectrum management options (e.g. in terms of employment or Gross Domestic Product)?

2. What models can be used to represent these benefits in an economic form and how can they be validated?

3. What factors could affect the benefits accruing to an administration from the use of the radio-frequency spectrum, including by national safety services?

4. How would the factors in § 3 vary from country to country?

Category 3: Alternative methods of national spectrum management

1. What are alternative spectrum management approaches including the use of non-profit making user groups and private sector spectrum management organizations?

2. How can these approaches be categorized?

3. Which of these alternative spectrum management approaches would be responsive to the needs of the developing countries as well as for the least developed ones?

4. What measures, of a technical, operational and regulatory nature, would it be necessary for an administration to consider implementing when adopting one or more of these spectrum management approaches in the context of:

– the country's infrastructure;

– national spectrum management;

– regional and international aspects (e.g. notification, coordination, monitoring)?

Further information is likely to be submitted that is relevant to this Report and that information will be included in future revisions as appropriate.