LMR licensing activity increases slightly in 2022, but totals still near historical lows

FCC licensing activity increased slightly in the public-safety and business/industrial sectors during 2022, although the numbers remain at levels that are relatively low from a historical perspective, according to information from the FCC’s online Universal Licensing System (ULS).

Figures in the ULS database indicate that 2022 marked the first time in a decade that LMR licensing activity increased in both the public-safety and business/industrial categories. The last previous time was in 2012, when LMR licensees were taking actions necessary to meet the FCC’s narrowbanding deadline that became effective at the end of that year.

In the public-safety arena, the FCC has granted 3,142 licenses that were filed in 2022, with 12 applications waiting to be processed. If all of the pending applications are approved, the 3,158 licenses represent a 1.8% increase when compared to the 2021 total of 3,098 public-safety licenses granted.

This 2022 figure marks the second consecutive year that public-safety LMR licensing activity has increased after eight consecutive years of decreased from 2013 through 2020. These totals for the last two years represent a rebound from the COVID-19-impacted year of 2020, when an all-time low 2,763 public-safety licenses were granted.

Aside from this record-low 2020 figure, public-safety licensing has been very consistent during the past five years, with the annual total ranging between 3,000 and 3,200 in the four other years—3,194 in 2018, 3,059 in 2019, 2.098 in 2021, and now 3,142 (with 12 pending) in 2022.

While the two consecutive years of public-safety licensing growth can be viewed as a sign of encouragement for the LMR industry, the figures still are near the bottom historically. In fact, these last five years of public-safety LMR licensing represent the five lowest annual totals in the 22-year history of the online ULS database.

The 2022 public-safety licensing figure represents a 70.3% drop from the all-time high of 10,602 licenses granted in 2012—the prime year for narrowbanding activity—and 37.9% decrease from the 5,082 licenses approved in 2014.

Similar trends are happening in the business/industrial space, where the FCC has granted 9,481 LMR licenses, with 262 applications still being processed. If all pending application are approved, a total of 9,743 business/industrial licenses would be granted for 2022—a 3.4% increase when compared to the 2021 all-time-low figure of 9,424.

This 2022 total for business/industrial licenses is somewhat disappointing for industry observes, because application figures earlier in the year indicated that the category was on pace to top 10,000 licenses for the first time since 2019. Instead, a lackluster fourth quarter of the year means the 2022 total for the sector likely will be near 9,700.

With this in mind, 2022 will mark the third consecutive year in which the number of business/industrial licenses granted is below the 10,000 threshold—and that follows a three-year stretch from 2017 through 2019, in which the FCC approved less than 11,000 business/industrial applications annually.

As a point of comparison, the lowest total of business/industrial licenses granted from 2001 through 2016 was in 2009, when the FCC approved 11,256 applications amid a global economic meltdown. With the 2022 figures, the FCC has granted less than 10,800 business/industrial licenses in each of the last six years.

The 2022 business/industrial licensing total represents a 67.0% decrease from the all-time high of 29,569 licenses granted in 2012—at the height of the narrowbanding bubble—and a 47.3% drop from the 18,475 licenses approved in 2014.