AM/FM radio spectrum: 2031 expiry of licences and potential reassignment

AM/FM licences are due to expire in 2031, and renewal is in progress.

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AM/FM licences to be renewed from 2031 to 2051: January 2026

27 January 2026

Cabinet has made key decisions on the future of AM and FM sound broadcasting licences beyond the expiry of current licences in 2031.

Following public consultation in 2025, the Government has agreed to continue to use this spectrum for AM/FM services for a further 20 years, providing for radio broadcasting through to 2051. For more information on the consultation and the submissions received, see: AM/FM 2031 expiry and potential reassignment(external link).

Commercial, community, and iwi broadcasters will continue to have access to radio spectrum. Commercial broadcasters can expect renewal offers in coming months, while non-commercial operators will be engaged well-ahead of the expiry of their current licences. The renewal process for community licences will be led by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, and by Te Puni Kōkiri for iwi licences.

Local Commercial FM licences will be offered the opportunity to transition to either a community or commercial licence.

For commercial licence holders

Commercial licence holders can expect renewal offers in mid-2026, and will have six-months to consider them. RSM is working to get commercial offers out to current licence-holders as soon as possible. New licences will commence on 3 April 2031.

As part of these offers, licence holders will have the flexibility to pay and renew licence-holdings at 5-yearly intervals rather than being required to pay the full amount up front. If a licence holder does not wish to renew its licences at these intervals, it will be able to instead relinquish them to the Crown. RSM will then make these licences available again to the market.

Renewal offers will be based on a national value of $29 million for the current commercial licence-set. This means the per-capita price paid will be lower than was consulted on in 2025, reflecting industry feedback and information provided through the consultation.

We are aware that licence holders will be keen to understand the precise costs associated with their specific licence set. MBIE is currently working to confirm the final per-capita price and to revise population coverage for each licence based on the latest census data. Once this has been completed MBIE will generate offer documents for all licence holders. MBIE will not be responding to ad hoc requests for information on specific licences until the complete data set is ready and all offers are generated.

Additional licences will be available to commercial broadcasters from spectrum which had previously been put aside for a national youth channel. This spectrum will begin to be made available from 2027, with additional details to follow.

The moratorium which is due to come into effect on 20 February 2026 will provide the administrative stability needed to generate offers efficiently.

If you have any questions about the commercial licences, email the Radio Spectrum Management team.

For Local Commercial FM (LCFM) licence holders

The LCFM licence type will be retired in 2031. Current licence-holders will be able to transition to either a community or commercial licence, with offers to be made in the second-half of 2026.

If licensees do not wish to transition, they will be able to continue operating under their current conditions until the expiry of their licences in 2031.

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is intending to review the Regional and Community Broadcasting Policy Framework 2019 in the first half of 2026. They will aim to release the updated framework before offers are made to LCFM operators.

If you have any questions about the renewal of LCFM licences, email the Radio Spectrum Management team.

For community licence holders

Spectrum licences will continue to be available for community broadcasters from 2031, with further information on the renewal process available from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage later in the year.

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is intending to review the Regional and Community Broadcasting Policy Framework 2019 in the first half of 2026 as part of this work.

More information about the framework and related updates: Community radio broadcasting licences(external link) – Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

If you have any questions about community licences, email the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

For iwi licence holders

Spectrum licences will continue to be available for iwi broadcasters from 2031.

Te Puni Kōkiri will lead work on the renewal of spectrum for iwi radio broadcasting ahead of 2031, which will consider sector views on the best use of spectrum for iwi radio broadcasting and spectrum which has previously been put aside for a national Māori radio service.

For further information, you can email Te Puni Kōkiri.

Notification of moratorium on applications and modifications of AM/FM commercial sound broadcasting licences: December 2025

Work is underway to renew AM/FM licences, and a moratorium on new AM/FM commercial licenses and commercial licence modifications will be in place from 5pm 20 February 2026 until late 2026 to support this project. The date when the moratorium is to be lifted will be confirmed closer to the time.

If you intend to apply for any licence modifications, or apply for new licences before the moratorium, you must ensure that these processes are completed before 5pm on 20 February 2026:

  1. For new licence applications: Your completed licence application must be in the Crown Spectrum Asset Manager’s work queue in the Register of Radio Frequencies (RRF) by 5pm, 20 February 2026. This means that your Approved Radio Engineer (ARE) has completed and submitted the licence online through the RRF. Your application will be processed during the moratorium as per current practice (including expressions of interest).
  2. For modifications of existing licences: your completed licence modification must be in the Crown Spectrum Asset Manager’s work queue in the RRF by 5pm, 20 February 2026. This means that your ARE has created a licence modification request which the person designated in the RRF as the rightholder of the licence must have also then submitted to the Manager (Crown Spectrum Asset Manager) in the online RRF. Your application will be processed during the moratorium as per current practice.

There is very limited scope to make changes to existing commercial licences during the moratorium. It is expected that any requests would be prompted by factors beyond the control of operators and which cannot wait until the moratorium is lifted, such as unexpectedly losing access to a transmission site at short notice. If a modification is required during the moratorium period, a statutory declaration form will be required. This will be available after the moratorium has started, on 20 February 2026, by request made to crownspectrum@mbie.govt.nz.  

This moratorium of approximately 12 months is required to provide administrative stability for the AM/FM renewal project. We expect that an additional moratorium will be required closer to the end of the current management right (around 2030) to allow for RSM to undertake transition activities. Details of this second moratorium will be confirmed closer to the time. We have previously consulted on a moratorium which would have commenced in April 2026 and finished in April 2031, and this revised approach of two shorter moratoriums is intended to address feedback that our initial proposal was too lengthy and restrictive.

The moratorium does not apply to iwi or community licences. Engage with Te Puni Kōkiri or Ministry for Culture and Heritage if you have any questions on those classes of licences. Note that in some instances an iwi licence holder may also hold commercial licences. In these instances the moratorium still applies to the commercial licences that are held.

Consultation: April 2025

Radio Spectrum Management undertook consultation on the potential reassignment of licences in the AM and FM radio spectrum bands prior to expiry in 2031.

For more information about the consultation and the submissions received, see: AM/FM 2031 expiry and potential reassignment.