Over the last decade, approaches to setting licence fees have varied widely around the world. The primary differences stem from what type of licence is awarded and whether the licence involves the exclusive use of a scarce resource. In the case of mobile service licences, which involve the use of spectrum, regulators have generally taken the view that licence fees should reflect the economic value of the spectrum being distributed. With other licences – and in particular, fixed-line licences – there has been an increasing trend away from charging large, up-front licence fees and towards levying recurring annual fees, set at a level that enables regulators to recover their administrative costs.