Commercial / Community Radio Broadcast Licence

Broadcasting Act 1990/1996 content licences — for running a licensed radio station, not for two-way radio equipment.

"Local" licences are banded by the population living in the licensed area — Category A is the largest audience (4.5m+, priciest), Category D the smallest (under 400k, cheapest). The band affects the fee, not transmitter power.
Annual fee is a cumulative sliding scale: 0.222% up to £1m, 0.332% £1m–£5m, 0.499% above £5m. Fee is £0 if under £100 (de minimis).
£600 application + £600 annual, or the standard turnover-based tariff if higher.
£20,000 application + 10% of turnover (min £25k, max £100k) annual.
Categories A–D band the multiplex by the population within its coverage area, largest (A) to smallest (D) — same bands used for analogue local radio.
£30/day, capped at the annual limit for the power level chosen.
Business (Two-Way) Radio Licence

Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 — walkie-talkies / PMR for site, event or fleet use.

Band I is a low VHF band historically used for taxi and general low-band PMR. "Trading units" are Ofcom's population-based sub-areas (A = high population/priciest, C = low population/cheapest); the others are whole-nation areas.
"Popularity" reflects how congested the channel is in the area chosen — more users compete for highly popular channels, so they cost more. Less popular channels are cheaper but may have less choice of clear frequency.
Popularity reflects channel congestion in your area; population category reflects how many people live within your licensed coverage area (A = high/priciest, C = low/cheapest) — Ofcom prices both independently.
Coverage category is the physical reach of your transmitter (power/mast height/mobile range), not population — larger coverage costs more. Exclusive assignment guarantees nobody else uses your frequency in the area (higher fee); Shared means you may share it with other licensees (lower fee).
Narrower channels (12.5 kHz) pack more users into the same spectrum and cost less per channel; wider channels (25 kHz "double rate") give more voice/data capacity but cost more.
PMSE — Wireless Mics, Talkback, IEMs

Programme Making and Special Events licensing for events, venues and broadcast production.

"Channel" is how the booking is coordinated with JFMG (the PMSE spectrum coordinator), not a radio channel: Online is self-service via JFMG's booking system; Office means a JFMG coordinator handles it manually.
A carnet is a block of booking "tokens" bought upfront from JFMG, giving a discount on every event you book against it compared with paying per item each time — useful if you book PMSE frequencies often.
Aeronautical Radio Licence

Aerodrome, ATC and aircraft ground station licensing.

DOC (Designated Operational Coverage) is the area within which your signal must reliably reach aircraft, as agreed with the CAA — Circular is a simple radius, Area an irregular polygon, Broadcast a wide promulgated area (e.g. VOLMET). "Standard" covers conventional voice ATC services; VDL is the VHF Data Link digital protocol used for data services like CPDLC.
8.33 kHz is the modern narrow-spacing standard now mandatory across most UK airspace; 25 kHz is the older, wider spacing and is priced as three times the base rate.
Reproduces Ofcom's published AIP formula. Treat as an approximation of Ofcom's own "ready reckoner" — CAA-approved DOC dimensions determine the real figure.
Mobile Spectrum Annual Licence Fee (ALF)

900/1800/2100 MHz have published per-MHz Annual Licence Fees. Other mobile/5G bands (700 MHz, 3.4/3.6 GHz, 26 GHz) use separate, less consolidated fee regimes — check Ofcom's current statement.

Fixed Links / Point-to-Point Microwave

Most bands are priced by Administered Incentive Pricing (AIP), assessed per-link by Ofcom — not a simple public table. Only 5.8 GHz Band C has a published flat tariff; the others are listed so you can find your band, but need an official Ofcom quote.

Satellite Earth Stations

Priced using AIP plus cost-recovery elements (including satellite filing costs). There is no simple public per-station table — Ofcom assesses each application individually based on frequency band, orbital characteristics and coordination requirements. Contact Ofcom or use its official calculator for a quote.

Ship & Ship Portable Radio

Free. Ship radio licences have been issued free of charge for the lifetime of the vessel since 30 September 2006 (apply via Ofcom's online licensing portal).

Amateur Radio

Free. Online issue and renewal of UK amateur radio licences (Foundation/Intermediate/Full) is free via Ofcom's online licensing portal.

Business Radio — Bulk Import

Upload a spreadsheet or Word document of business radio equipment (base stations, handhelds, links) to estimate Technically Assigned fees for a whole fleet in one go. Population category has no public postcode lookup, so it always needs a manual pick per row — anything else the parser couldn't work out is flagged for review too.

Column reference — Band popularity: how congested the channel is (Highly/Medium/Less popular, or Band I). Population: people within the coverage area, A (high) to C (low). Coverage: physical reach of the transmitter, 1 (small) to 3 (large). Assignment: Exclusive (no one else on your frequency) or Shared. Width: channel bandwidth, narrower is cheaper.

Word documents (.docx) need the equipment listed as a table, with the same column headings as the .xlsx template — free-text lists can't be reliably parsed into fee-relevant fields.

⬇ Download template (.xlsx)
Equipment / site Band popularity Population Coverage Assignment Width Ch. Fee
Total: £0.00
Licensing Itinerary

Build up a list of every licence you're estimating across the tabs above (or a whole bulk-import batch), then export the lot as one covering schedule to send to Ofcom or a colleague. Use "Add to Itinerary" on any calculator tab to add its current result here. Nothing here is stored on the server — it's kept in this browser only, so it will persist if you come back later on this device, but won't follow you to another computer.

No items yet — go to a calculator tab, set it up, and click "Add to Itinerary".
# Category Reference / notes Fee
Grand total: £0.00
How Ofcom licensing works
  1. Work out what you're actually doing. Running a licensed radio station (content) is governed by the Broadcasting Act 1990/1996. Using radio spectrum/equipment — two-way radios, wireless mics, microwave links, satellite dishes, aircraft/ship radio — is governed by the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006. Many broadcasters need licences under both.
  2. Identify the licence product. Ofcom groups licences into products (e.g. "BR Simple UK", "Aeronautical Station (Recreational Aviation)", "National Radio Licence"). The product determines which fee table applies.
  3. Understand the fee model — Ofcom uses three broad approaches:
    • Fixed/banded fees — flat rate by licence type, band, area or population (business radio, PMSE, most aeronautical, community/RSL radio).
    • Administered Incentive Pricing (AIP) — a formula reflecting the value/scarcity of the specific spectrum used (bespoke aeronautical DOC fees, fixed links, satellite, mobile spectrum ALF).
    • Percentage of Relevant/Qualifying Turnover — national and local commercial radio and TV content licences pay a cumulative sliding-scale percentage of revenue earned under the licence.
  4. Apply and pay via the Ofcom Licensing Portal. Most fees are payable annually in advance; if the calculated annual fee is large (thresholds vary by category — £5,000 for radio broadcast, £75,000 for TV/telecoms/postal), Ofcom automatically offers monthly instalments.
  5. Renew on time. Renewal fees are sometimes different from new-application fees (see the Commercial Radio calculator).
Sources used to build this tool
  • Ofcom Tariff Tables 2026/27 (published 26 March 2026) — Section 6, Radio Licence Fees.
  • Ofcom Business Radio Licence Fee Guide.
  • Ofcom PMSE fees page.
  • Ofcom "Aeronautical Radio Licences: Guidance on fees" (November 2018).
  • Ofcom statements on Annual Licence Fees for 900/1800/2100 MHz spectrum.

This tool estimates fees from published tariffs for planning and quoting purposes. It is not affiliated with Ofcom. Bespoke/AIP fees in particular depend on technical parameters Ofcom assesses case-by-case — always confirm before committing to a number.