Ofcom innovation licensing: the drone proposals and the open question
In short: Ofcom innovation licensing is under review. Ofcom opened two spectrum consultations on 16 July 2026 and wants responses to both by 5pm on 30 September 2026. One proposes drone control spectrum at 450 MHz and 5030 to 5091 MHz, and a drone detection radar licence at 16 and 24 GHz. The other asks how innovative spectrum use should be authorised.
Ofcom has proposed opening two further bands to drone control links, and creating a licence for the radars that detect drones. It has also asked wireless innovators more generally what is wrong with the way it authorises experimental and novel spectrum use. Both consultations opened on 16 July 2026 and both take responses until 5pm on 30 September 2026. Ofcom will publish its decisions on the drone proposals in early 2027, and separate proposals on innovation licensing over the same period.
The link between the two consultations
Ofcom authorises radio equipment under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006. Section 8 makes it unlawful to establish or use a wireless telegraphy station, or to install or use wireless telegraphy apparatus, except under a licence. Section 8(3) lets Ofcom exempt classes of equipment by regulations, and section 8(4) obliges it to do so where the section 8(5) conditions are met, one of which is that the use is not likely to involve undue interference. Most consumer drones already fly under that licence exemption in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.
In the drone consultation Ofcom records a rising number of Innovation and Trial licence applications from stakeholders wanting to test drone technologies, and says it will consider ad hoc licensing requests for drone control links and detection radar while the proposals are finalised. The call for input asks whether Ofcom should have a standard route for cases of that kind instead of handling each applicant separately. Ofcom issues over 750 Innovation and Trial licences a year.
The Civil Aviation Authority regulates drone flight, including flights beyond visual line of sight, or BVLOS. Ofcom authorises the radiocommunications equipment carried on the drone and the equipment used to detect it. A drone operator needs both.
What Ofcom proposes for drone spectrum
Ofcom would open 453 to 462.5 MHz within the 450 MHz band for drone control links on three year fixed term licences, shared with business radio and available mainly in remote and rural areas. It would open part of the 5030 to 5091 MHz band, preferring 5040 to 5060 MHz, until 2032. It would create a drone radar licence covering 24.05 to 24.25 GHz and 15.4 to 16.6 GHz, with the 16 GHz authorisation subject to case by case coordination with the Ministry of Defence. A draft licence accompanies the proposals.
All three measures are time limited. Ofcom will review the 450 MHz approach within three years of the first licences being issued, and plans to align the 5030 to 5091 MHz conditions with globally harmonised standards once those are agreed. If Ofcom proceeds, it will consult again on the draft licences.
| What Ofcom proposes | The case for | The case against |
|---|---|---|
| 450 MHz drone control at 453 to 462.5 MHz, three year fixed term, shared with business radio | Propagation at 450 MHz suits long range control links, and the band is available where mobile coverage is weakest, which is where BVLOS operations most need a back-up path | Availability is limited in and around many urban areas, so the measure serves rural operations and leaves urban logistics where it was; business radio users acquire a new neighbour |
| Drone control in part of 5030 to 5091 MHz, preferred option 5040 to 5060 MHz, until 2032 | Availability is good across the UK and the band is internationally recognised for aviation control links, so equipment is likely to follow | The conditions will change once harmonised standards are agreed, so early equipment may need modification, and 2032 is a short horizon for an asset financed over a longer term |
| Drone detection radar licence at 24.05 to 24.25 GHz and 15.4 to 16.6 GHz | Gives prisons, power stations, airports and other sites a licensed route to detection instead of case by case authorisation, and the draft licence is open to comment now | The 16 GHz authorisation requires case by case Ministry of Defence coordination, which reintroduces the delay a standard licence removes |
What Ofcom is asking about innovation licensing
The call for input covers two regimes and asks eleven questions. Innovation and Trial licensing consists of two products. An Innovation and Research licence supports development and testing at one of the applicant’s own sites and costs £50 a year. A Demonstration and Trial licence permits trials at a location or across an area, including with third parties and the public, and costs £50 per location per month. Ofcom grants both on a non-interference no-protection basis, so the licensee must not cause interference to other authorised users and cannot claim protection from interference it receives. Neither permits operational or commercial use.
Special or bespoke licensing covers requests for longer term commercial access where no standard licence product fits. Ofcom has answered these by varying an existing licence, by using the Science and Technology (Miscellaneous) licence, or by creating a licence type, as it did for temporary non-geostationary earth station access to E band and for enhanced long range navigation. No standard assessment framework or timeframe applies to a bespoke spectrum licence request, and Ofcom acknowledges that complex ones take a significant time to evaluate.
Ofcom proposes no regulatory changes in this document and is gathering views and evidence. The areas it has identified, with the arguments on each, follow.
| What Ofcom is considering | The case for | The case against |
|---|---|---|
| Allowing larger, time limited commercial trials under a Demonstration and Trial licence, including with paying customers | Removes the break between trialling and deployment, and lets a service be tested under realistic conditions and load | A commercial service on a non-interference no-protection basis carries no service assurance for its customers, and Ofcom is clear there would be no expectation of long term access or of the same terms later |
| Longer or renewable Innovation and Trial licences, and preferential terms for universities, test houses or designated sites | Ends annual reapplication and repeated coordination for sites that run trials continuously, and closes the authorisation gaps that late applications create | Any class based preference must be objectively justified and non-discriminatory under section 9(7); accredited test house is administrable as a category, innovative company is not |
| Transmission power thresholds allowing low power or remote applications through without third party coordination | Around 70 per cent of applications already clear in 42 days and 96 per cent in 60, so removing coordination for genuinely low risk cases addresses the tail rather than the average | Thresholds must be agreed band by band with incumbents including Government departments, which is itself slow, and a threshold fixed once is a static answer to a changing occupancy picture |
| Faster assessment categories, low risk trial zones, or a regulatory sandbox for bespoke requests | Provides a route where no licence product fits and the coexistence evidence does not yet exist, and a sandbox could support extended operational use that trial licences exclude | Low risk is a judgment made before the evidence exists, and revocation and enforcement operate only after interference has occurred |
| Applicants to produce their own coexistence analysis | Frees Ofcom engineering capacity for genuinely contested cases and makes applicants confront coexistence before the correspondence starts | A real barrier for the small innovators and universities the review is aimed at; Ofcom would still verify the work, and incumbents will question analysis produced by the applicant |
| Fixed term bespoke licences of three to five years with one year’s revocation notice | Enough certainty to support investment and commercialisation while keeping spectrum recoverable if the technology does not succeed; the E band licences run to 31 December 2028 on a similar model | One year is far shorter than the five years’ notice on many standard products, and revocation terms are a covenant to anyone financing or acquiring the business |
| Extending the Local Access licence model to other bands and technologies | Puts licensed but locally unused spectrum to work; the model is proven, with a three year default and a £950 one-off fee, and the incumbent keeps a reasonable objection right | No guarantee of renewal, so it suits site specific uses rather than anything requiring continuity, and extension means negotiating with a wider and less familiar set of incumbents |
The limits the Wireless Telegraphy Act places on any answer
Section 3 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 requires Ofcom to have regard to spectrum availability and to current and future demand, and to the desirability of promoting efficient management and use, the economic and other benefits of wireless telegraphy, the development of innovative services and competition in electronic communications services. Section 3(5) gives priority to Ofcom’s duties under sections 3 to 6 of the Communications Act 2003 where the two conflict, so the innovation duty operates within the general duties rather than above them.
Section 9(1) lets Ofcom grant a licence on such terms, provisions and limitations as it thinks fit, which supplies the flexibility for bespoke licensing. Section 9(7) limits that discretion, because every term must be objectively justifiable, not unduly discriminatory, proportionate and transparent. Any preference for test houses or universities will be assessed against those four requirements. Schedule 1 paragraph 8 governs restrictions on revocation and variation, which is where security of tenure is settled in practice.
The growth duty in section 108 of the Deregulation Act 2015 was extended to Ofcom by the Economic Growth (Regulatory Functions) (Amendment) Order 2024, and the government set Ofcom’s direction for telecoms and spectrum through its statement of strategic priorities. Neither displaces the Wireless Telegraphy Act duties.
Responding by 30 September 2026
Ofcom takes responses on the drone proposals at uas@ofcom.org.uk and on the Ofcom call for input at innovationreview@ofcom.org.uk, in both cases until 5pm on 30 September 2026. It has offered meetings to stakeholders with direct experience. Neither exercise requires an answer to every question, and Ofcom has said a short response on a single point is acceptable.
On the drone proposals, technical detail on coexistence analysis, band availability and equipment timelines carries weight, because Ofcom has published its own modelling and a draft licence to comment on. On innovation licensing, Ofcom is at an earlier stage, and evidence of what has gone wrong and how long it took will shape what it proposes. Ofcom has also asked about barriers outside its remit, including equipment standardisation, and will pass those to government. The regulatory sequence for a wireless product launch is set out on our telecoms product launch advice page.
Viewpoint
Ofcom has authorised drones for several years through licence variations, ad hoc grants and trial licences. The drone proposals turn that case by case practice into standing licence products, and the call for input asks whether the case by case stage can be shortened for whatever technology arrives next. In our experience advising operators and equipment developers, the delay that matters is rarely the 42 days Ofcom takes on a straightforward Innovation and Trial application. It is the coordination round with an incumbent spectrum manager, particularly where the band carries a Government user, and Ofcom cannot conclude that negotiation on its own. Question 4, on transmission thresholds, addresses this, and Ofcom flags it as the option involving the most work.
Security of tenure has consequences well beyond the consultation, because the answer becomes a licence term, and licence terms are read by lenders and acquirers years later. Ofcom made the temporary E band earth station licences available to 31 December 2028 with a one month revocation notice for spectrum management reasons, as an interim authorisation to avoid prejudging the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference. A three to five year licence with a one year notice period, offered as the standing model for commercial deployment, is a different proposition, and anyone financing spectrum dependent assets has reason to say so before early 2027.
Frequently asked questions
Does a drone operator need an Ofcom licence?
It depends on the equipment. Most consumer drones on the market operate under a licence exemption in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Since early 2023 BVLOS operations may operate under a UAS operator radio licence in various mobile and satellite bands, and in March 2025 Ofcom extended that licence to the 978 MHz band for safety devices. The Civil Aviation Authority separately regulates the flight itself.
What is an Innovation and Trial licence?
It is one of two Ofcom licence products for developing and demonstrating wireless technology. An Innovation and Research licence covers development and testing at the applicant’s own site at £50 a year. A Demonstration and Trial licence covers trials at a location or area, including with the public, at £50 per location per month. Both are non-commercial, non-operational, and granted on a non-interference no-protection basis.
What happens after 30 September 2026?
Ofcom will publish a statement in early 2027 setting out whether it will proceed with the drone proposals, followed by a further consultation on the draft licences if it does. On innovation licensing, Ofcom will bring forward specific proposals for consultation over the same period. It will consider ad hoc licensing requests for drone control links and detection radar in the meantime.
For advice on authorisation for a new wireless product, a bespoke spectrum licence request, or a consultation response, contact Rob Bratby at Bratby Law. Our spectrum page sets out how we advise licensees, applicants and investors, and recent analysis of Ofcom’s authorisation practice is at our posts on satellite spectrum and UK/EU divergence, the 1.4 GHz auction and the Upper 6 GHz consultation.
