1. Current 2.3 GHz Shared Access product
Ofcom's Shared Access licence page lists the available 2.3 GHz slices, low-power area model and current fees. It states £80 per 10 MHz and £160 for 20 MHz, per year. A low-power licence allows as many base stations as required within a 50 m-radius area.
Ofcom's Shared Access Licence Guidance, updated April 2026, describes the standard 2.3 GHz product as indoor-only and low-power, with base stations limited to 24 dBm EIRP per carrier. It also explains technical coordination, possible frequency changes, annual charges and application timing of up to 42 days.
Ofcom's Technical Frequency Assignment Criteria, version 2.3 dated 1 May 2026, provides the detailed coordination criteria. The campaign page is a summary, not a substitute for the licence, guidance or assignment decision.
This is the current position. The campaign asks Ofcom to add a coordinated long-term outdoor route. It does not claim that outdoor operation is already permitted under the standard product.
2. Local Access, continuity and national rights
Ofcom's current Local Access page describes the product as a way to use spectrum already licensed nationally to a mobile network operator where a particular frequency is not being used.
Ofcom's Local Access guidance says the default licence period is three years, requests for other durations can be considered, and a term longer than three years requires the incumbent's support. It says licences cannot be renewed. Continued access requires a new application, with no guarantee that another licence can be granted if the incumbent's circumstances have changed. If the first licence expires before the new process is complete, transmission must stop. The guidance sets a single one-off fee of £950.
The same guidance says the incumbent's rights to deploy remain after a Local Access licence is issued and expects the parties to coordinate. Before an initial or replacement grant, an incumbent may make a reasonable objection based on existing deployment, plans during the requested period or harmful interference. Ofcom makes the licensing decision.
The campaign does not claim that an MNO can cancel a compliant active Local Access licence merely because it wants the spectrum back. It identifies the serious continuity risk when the fixed term ends and a completely new application is required.
Ofcom's 2019 local-licensing decision explains that awarded MNO licences allow deployment anywhere nationally in the bands described by those licences, while Local Access must respect the incumbent's rights. This supports the campaign's comparison of geographic and investment certainty.
The comparison does not say national spectrum is free. Ofcom's 2021 auction results, for example, record £1.3794 billion in principal-stage bids. National operators also face licence conditions and, for some bands, annual licence fees. The campaign is comparing the structure and continuity of authorisation, not claiming that the two models have identical economics.
3. How the Shared Access fee was set
Ofcom's 2019 local-licensing decision, particularly paragraphs 3.148 to 3.170, explains the cost-recovery approach. Ofcom used Business Radio Technically Assigned licensing costs as a proxy because it considered the issuing processes similar. It assumed a £320 average annual cost and a 40 MHz average licence, with roughly £32 as the notional variable issuing cost.
The campaign does not say £32 is the correct price now. It uses the historic assumptions to ask what standardised indoor coordination, a new outdoor route and annual administration would cost in 2026. Ofcom said it would monitor demand and review fees if sufficient evidence showed this was necessary.
A later Ofcom consultation on short-notice licensing states that more than 1,000 Shared Access licences were on issue across all Shared Access bands and refers to economies of scale. That provides a larger operating evidence base than existed at launch, but does not by itself prove the fee should fall.
The repeated-area figures on the campaign page are arithmetic based on Ofcom's published prices. Ten separate 10 MHz areas cost £800 a year and ten separate 20 MHz areas cost £1,600 a year. One hundred such areas would cost £8,000 or £16,000 a year. Actual deployments may need fewer or more areas and may use different bandwidths.
The comparison with 267 customers divides £16,000 by Lodestar's planned headline tariff of £5 a month for 12 months, then rounds to the nearest whole customer. It compares gross headline subscription value, not profit, margin or licence cost per customer. Taxes, usage, payment costs and every other operating cost are excluded.
4. Temporary outdoor use is a precedent, not a permanent route
Ofcom's standard ongoing Shared Access product remains indoor-only at 2.3 GHz. Separately, its short-notice, short-duration product permits indoor or outdoor use of 2320 to 2340 MHz for no more than 14 days, subject to its own technical, separation and non-interference conditions.
This demonstrates that Ofcom can coordinate some outdoor operation in part of the lower 2.3 GHz slice. It does not provide a practical authorisation for a continuous public mobile service, and it does not establish that 2390 to 2400 MHz can be opened on the same conditions.
The campaign asks Ofcom to create a long-term, coordinated low-power outdoor route for 2320 to 2340 MHz and to complete the coexistence work needed to open 2390 to 2400 MHz where existing users can be protected. Any future limits would be for Ofcom to determine through evidence, technical analysis and consultation.
5. Current policy window
Ofcom's call for input on spectrum innovation was published on 16 July 2026 with a response deadline of 5pm on 30 September 2026. It is a broad review, not a consultation specifically about Shared Access fees. Ofcom's document says it plans specific proposals in early 2027.
Government's Ofcom growth goals for 2026/27 include the outcome of maximising spectrum access and sharing to unlock innovation, with plans for evolving authorisation frameworks expected in Q3 of that financial year.
The final Statement of Strategic Priorities, designated on 27 April 2026, asks Ofcom to assess full automation of Shared Access licensing and explore whether it could reduce approval times.
In its 2026/27 Plan of Work response, Ofcom says it will continue exploring spectrum sharing and endeavour to improve turnaround times and offer more flexibility in authorisation and charging through process and system improvements. None of these documents promises Lodestar a fee review, pilot, waiver or reduction. Together, they create a relevant opening for an evidence-led proposal.
6. Connected Nations coverage calculation
The source is Ofcom's Connected Nations Spring 2026 update and its mobile-coverage open-data ZIP.
In 202601_mobile_metrics_UK_and_nations_r01.csv, rows were filtered to Location UK, Technology 4G, Coverage type Premises (Indoor), and Rurality Urban or Rural.
- MNO
All: 95.35% urban and 63.66% rural. - MNO
None: 4,497 urban premises and 101,923 rural premises. - The two
Nonevolumes sum to 106,420 premises.
These are operator signal-model predictions as of January 2026, not measured reliability and not a count of confirmed real-world not-spots. Vodafone and Three supplied separate datasets, and Ofcom continued to report four network footprints while integration proceeded.
The figures provide national context for a rural coverage gap. They do not prove that an outdoor Lodestar cell can serve a particular property. Results depend on spectrum availability and coordination, terrain, siting, power, backhaul, equipment, compatible devices and Lodestar's service availability.
Ofcom's accompanying data guide describes the fields, categories and signal thresholds.
7. Interpretation and campaign boundaries
The proposal is Lodestar's policy position, not an Ofcom or government commitment. The page does not claim that spectrum administration is free, that national operators face no costs, that fees alone determine deployment, or that every Shared Access user needs the same price.
The campaign asks for substantially lower recurring Shared Access fees, a coordinated long-term outdoor route in the two existing 2.3 GHz Shared Access slices, a more durable Local Access model and a 100-site outdoor pilot if further evidence is required.
It does not ask for unlicensed or uncoordinated transmission, access to the whole of LTE Band 40, automatic approval of every site, automatic medium-power rights, reduced interference protection or a special right for Lodestar. It does not guarantee coverage, customer savings or that Lodestar will become the first UK community-built mobile network. That description is Lodestar's stated ambition.
Corrections can be sent to hello@lodestarnetworks.co.uk.