product / 01
£50 is not one universal fee.
Innovation & Research is £50 per year for a single location. Demonstration & Trial is £50 per location per month.
We do not add them together or call either one a universal entry fee.
OFCOM / CALL FOR INPUT / 16 JULY 2026
The licence costs £50. Ofcom uses 60 days as a processing benchmark.
For universities, test houses and wireless innovators, Ofcom says it issues over 750 Innovation and Trial licences a year. The official document reports 70% of applications processed within 42 days and 96% within 60; the 2025/26 Category C KPI table reports 99% within 60 days, so the marker is not an absolute cap. Switch between a new application and the proposed envelope for the same site: what coordination could shrink, and which safeguards stay?
OPEN CFI
The short answer: the fee and the time are different things. Ofcom is gathering views until 30 September 2026; it has not introduced or promised a notification licence.
Primary sources: Ofcom’s Call for Input page, the official PDF and Ofcom’s KPI indicators.
SPECTRUM PASSPORT
RC / 01site
envelope
proposed
envelope
proposed
£50the price of a product is not the process clock
annual volume>750Innovation and Trial licences a year
Innovation & Research£50per year, for a single location
Demonstration & Trial£50per location, per month
processing markers42 / 60days, not an average or guarantee
01 / WHAT WE KNOW
The fee is small. Repeating the process is the question.
Ofcom describes two current products for research, demonstration and trials. Both have £50 in the cost table, but for different periods. In the same source, the process clock is described separately.
clock / 02
42 and 60 are two markers.
Ofcom publishes 60 days as a processing benchmark. In the CFI, around 70% were processed within 42 days and around 96% within 60; the 2025/26 Category C KPI table reports 99% within 60 days, so some cases exceed the interval.
The document does not publish a mean, median or promise for the next application here.
status / 03
The CFI is not a rule change.
The Call for Input asks for views and evidence. Ofcom explicitly says it is not proposing specific regulatory changes or detailed proposals yet.
The site-envelope idea below is an editorial test, not an Ofcom product.
02 / WHAT THE CLOCK MEASURES
Do not confuse the fee with coordination time.
The published process runs through application, review and coordination, payment, and licence issue. Its duration depends on the size and complexity of the proposal, negotiation, and the time taken to pay.
APPLICATION CLOCK / CURRENT PROCESS
- 01ApplicationThe user submits an application for the relevant product.
- 02Review and coordinationOfcom reviews and coordinates the proposed use.
- 03PaymentThe time needed to pay is part of the published path.
- 04Licence issued60 days remains a processing benchmark.
03 / DESIGN TEST
Could a site passport remove the repetition?
The comparison below asks what might change for a repeat user at the same site. It does not simulate an Ofcom process or offer an authorisation path.
CURRENT PATH / TODAY
CURRENTEach trial starts with an application.
In the published path, a new use enters review and coordination, followed by payment and issue. The 42 and 60 markers remain processing measures, not a guaranteed timer.
01New applicationA new experiment enters the process.
02Review + coordinationThe step that can involve time and negotiation.
03PaymentRemains part of the described process.
04Licence issue60 days remains a processing benchmark.
EDITORIAL TEST / PROPOSED
PROPOSEDAn envelope would check repetition, not erase the rules.
In a future model, a pre-coordinated site could define a reusable boundary for certain uses. The change is only a hypothesis about repeated coordination; Ofcom has not introduced this notification route.
01Envelope definedA future rule would need to define its limits.
02Repeat use checkedTest whether the use is eligible inside it.
03Safeguards remainNon-interference. No protection.
04Rule still neededThere is no current Ofcom notification licence.
What could be reduced: repeated coordination for an eligible use. What this sketch does not reduce: protection for existing users or Ofcom’s power to intervene.
Displayed state: new application, with review and coordination in the process.
safeguard
stays
stays
The seal stays in both modes: licences are temporary and operate on a “non-interference, no-protection” basis; if interference occurs, Ofcom can require operations to be modified or ceased.
04 / REPEAT USER
Same site. Another trial. Coordination again?
Ofcom names universities, manufacturers and test houses that may carry out multiple trials a year at the same location. In the current regime it describes, they need a new licence for each trial or must reapply every twelve months.
same
site
again
site
again
today
The window can close between trials.
Reapplying can create gaps in authorisation if an application is late, adding work for the user and Ofcom.
future
path
test
path
test
what the CFI asks
Longer duration or renewal?
The document asks whether licences could last longer or be renewed without the full process. The question is not a decision.
05 / WHAT STAYS FIXED
A shorter process does not mean more protection.
In any honest comparison, speed and safety are not the same variable. The page keeps the current licence conditions visible.
01 / temporary
It is not permanent authorisation.
The products are described as temporary uses for research, development and demonstration.
02 / coexistence
Non-interference.
Use must avoid causing interference to existing users.
03 / status
No protection.
The licence does not promise protection from other spectrum users.
04 / remedy
Modify or cease.
Ofcom can require operations to be modified or ceased if interference occurs.
06 / DO NOT OVERREAD IT
Four boundaries for the same story.
These limits separate a useful reading from an invented regulatory promise.
fee
£50 is not universal.
The products have different billing periods. We do not combine them into one price.
time
42 is not the average.
“Within 42” and “within 60” are separate published percentage markers. The cited passage does not publish the denominator or exact processing start definition.
status
The CFI is not the rule.
Ofcom is gathering views. It has not announced a notification licence or operational envelope.
sketch
An envelope is not eligibility.
The test does not say which band, power, coordinates or site would be accepted.
Bottom line: the value of an envelope idea is reducing repetition, not removing coordination. To become policy, Ofcom would need to define eligibility, conditions and an intervention mechanism separately.
07 / SOURCES AND METHOD
Read the document, not just the number.
The official sources are archived locally, the figures are copied without recalculation, and the page separates what Ofcom says from what it tests.
source / page
Ofcom Call for Input
Published 16 July 2026. The page gives the open status and a 30 September 2026 closing date.
Ofcom / official pagesource / pdf
Consultation document
Sections 1.3, 2.11, 3.1–3.5, 3.11–3.12 and 4.14–4.17 support the volume, status, fees, timing, repeat users and safeguards.
Local archive and hash in `sources/`source / KPI
Ofcom KPI indicators
The 2025/26 Category C table reports 96% within 42 days and 99% within 60 days against a 100% within-60-day target.
Ofcom / official indicatorsEvidence limit: the cited passage does not publish the denominator or exact start and end definition for the 42 and 60-day processing markers. We therefore show no average, promise no duration and derive no new rate.