The Wireless Telegraphy (Dynamic Spectrum Access Service) (Frequencies) Regulations 2026 were made by Ofcom on 27 October 2026 and come into force on 10 November 2026. As published on legislation.gov.uk, the instrument is narrowly drawn but legally important: it identifies the radio frequencies that may fall within a dynamic spectrum access service registered under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006. The operative text is short. Regulation 2 specifies the 5925 megahertz to 7125 megahertz band, a 1,200 megahertz block, for the purposes of section 53A(7)(a) of the 2006 Act. In practical terms, Ofcom has fixed the frequency range about which an authorised service may give availability information.
In plain English, the Regulations concern information about spectrum use rather than a broad new permission to transmit. The explanatory note states that a registered dynamic spectrum access service may provide information on whether frequencies in that band are available for wireless telegraphy stations or apparatus, and on the place, power level, timing and conditions attached to any use. That distinction matters for readers outside the regulatory field. The instrument does not, by itself, open the 5925-7125 MHz band to unrestricted use. It creates the legal basis for an information service that can state whether use is available in a particular location and under particular conditions.
The legal route is also set out with unusual clarity. Ofcom made the Regulations under sections 53A(7)(a) and 122(7) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006. The instrument records that Ofcom published notice of its proposal and considered representations before making the final Regulations, as required by sections 122(4) to (6) of the Act. For policy professionals, that procedural record is significant. It confirms that the designation followed the statutory consultation process rather than being introduced informally. For regulated parties, that matters because any later compliance or interpretation question will sit alongside both the final text and the consultation history.
The change is most relevant to providers seeking registration as dynamic spectrum access services, and to organisations that may depend on those services when planning or operating wireless systems. That includes parties designing equipment or local deployments that need reliable information about whether frequencies may be used in a given place, at a given power, and at a given time. For those users, the benefit is legal certainty. Once the Regulations are in force, the relevant service can refer to a clearly identified band when supplying availability information under section 53A. That reduces uncertainty in compliance planning and gives a firmer legal frame for any related authorisations or operating conditions that apply elsewhere in Ofcom’s regime.
The measure is technical, but its limits are just as important as its effect. The Regulations do not set out a full technical standard in the body of the instrument, and they do not reproduce detailed operating parameters beyond identifying the band itself. Questions about registration, implementation and any linked access conditions will therefore continue to depend on Ofcom’s wider documentation and administrative arrangements. Even so, the instrument has real operational value. From 10 November 2026, it gives statutory backing to a model in which spectrum access decisions may be informed by availability data rather than by fixed assumptions alone. For sectors where shared or conditional use of frequencies matters, that is a meaningful regulatory step.
The Regulations were signed on 27 October 2026 by David Willis, Group Director in Ofcom’s Spectrum Group, acting on behalf of the regulator. The explanatory material also states that a full regulatory impact assessment is available from Ofcom, that hard copies may be obtained free of charge, and that copies have been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. Taken as a whole, the instrument does one specific thing and does it cleanly. It designates the 5925-7125 MHz range as the band a registered dynamic spectrum access service may cover when providing availability information. For communications professionals, that is the key legal development to track. For the wider public, the significance is that spectrum management is being organised through more precise information about where, when and on what terms wireless use may take place.