UK SPF Invitation to Tender: Future spectrum users demand - aligning access and value in a future-ready framework

The Forum’s open calls for commissioned research are a fantastic opportunity to work with us and help shape new analytical frameworks that advance spectrum policy debates. This year’s third commissioning call focuses on understanding future spectrum demand across emerging and underrepresented sectors, examining how shared use cases and evolving connectivity requirements will influence the UK’s longterm spectrum needs. 

Future Spectrum Demand: a crosssector analysis of emerging connectivity requirements 

The UK is entering a period of rapid technological transformation, with digital systems, automated processes, pervasive sensors, and AI‑enabled platforms reshaping how organisations operate and communicate. As sectors become increasingly dependent on low‑latency, high‑reliability, and high‑density connectivity, there is a growing need for a robust and forward‑looking understanding of long‑term spectrum demand. This study is intended to inform future national thinking on how best to support these evolving requirements through efficient, flexible, and value‑driven spectrum management. 

In alignment with national policy goals and the ongoing digital transformation agenda, this study will develop an independent evidence base on the UK’s evolving connectivity requirements across both well‑established and emerging sectors. The work will take a technology‑ and spectrum‑agnostic approach to identifying shared cross‑sector use cases, capturing the perspectives of sectors with mature spectrum requirements as well as those whose needs are currently under‑represented or less clearly defined. 

The research will analyse how future spectrum demand should be structured around use cases and will develop long‑term scenarios that reflect differing technology pathways, adoption profiles, and connectivity requirements. The study will also assess the suitability of various spectrum access mechanisms to support these emerging needs. The final outputs will integrate these strands into a coherent assessment of future demand and a set of evidence‑based recommendations to inform future policy development.  

Key dates 

• ITT issued: 03 March 2026  

• Deadline for clarification of questions: 23 March 2026 

• Deadline to submit your tender: 26 March 2026 

Additional information 

On the one hand, sustained improvements in device capability, network automation, and emerging standards may help sectors meet many of their needs through more efficient use of spectrum and advanced sharing models. On the other hand, sectors with critical operational requirements—including those with fragmented or underrepresented voices—may require more predictable access arrangements in specific locations or time periods. Therefore, the study will gather evidence on the underlying connectivity requirements and usecase characteristics that drive these differences, and assess how improvements in efficiency, standards, and access models could be applied in practice. 

To achieve impact within the project’s resources, the research should focus on unique spectrumrelated challenges rather than duplicating ongoing regulatory or policy initiatives. The goal is to ensure that perspectives from all relevant spectrum users, in particular emerging, longtail, or less organised sectors, are accurately represented. Accordingly, the research should evaluate the evolution of connectivity requirements from both technical and economic perspectives. 

This project will examine how use cases translate into performance requirements, how those requirements drive spectrum demand under different assumptions, and how evolving technologies such as AIenabled networks, NTN systems, and advanced local access models may influence future needs. The study should also assess how shifts in device density, automation, and distributed sensing affect spectrum usage patterns and the costs and benefits associated with meeting these requirements efficiently. 

This work aims to support future efforts by the UK Government and regulators to identify longterm spectrum needs, ensure the UK remains ahead of emerging demand trends, and shape an approach to spectrum management that reflects economic value, social benefit, and the needs of underrepresented sectors as part of a coherent national strategy. 

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