Table 6.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of various methods of 

redeployment (re farming) 

Method of 

Advantages 

Disadvantages 

paying for 

redeployment 

Existing 

No additional costs for  Unless there are advantages for 

operator or user  new entrants.  

the existing user associated with 

pays for 

Administratively 

the migration it is likely that it 

redeployment of  straightforward.   

would take a long time and be 

his own system  

subject to extra delays.  Some 

kind of compensation, direct or 

indirect would be needed to 

induce the operator to move.  An 

exception is where migration is 

driven by external market or 

technology developments, e.g. 

the migration from analogue to 

2G digital cellular

12

. 

New entrant 

Spectrum is freed Costs may be prohibitive making 

pays for 

when needed for the  it difficult for the new player to 

migration 

new service. 

compete equally with other 

Only spectrum 

Service Providers. 

needed for new 

May require regulatory 

entrant is freed. 

intervention to ensure that 

Cost of spectrum is  payments are on a genuine cost 

not directly linked to  recovery basis. 

the market value of 

the spectrum but is 

agreed between the 

users on a cost 

recovery basis. 

Has proved 

successful in several 

countries where a 

quick migration was 

necessary. 

Redeployment 

Provides a means of 

Risk that the fund is not 

fund established  funding 

sufficiently large to pay for 

redeployment from a 

redeployment. 

central source  

Issues about who will manage 

the fund, who should contribute, 

what the contributions should be 

and how to establish which 

migrations should be supported 

from the fund. 

12

 For example, in the UK the Government determined that analogue cellular services should cease by 

no later than 2005; in practice the capacity and cost advantages associated with GSM led to both 

analogue networks being closed five years before this date. 

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