The UK now has a "use it or share it" regime for operator spectrum. I can go and get prime operator spectrum if it isn't in use in my local area, and use it at

The UK now has a "use it or share it" regime for operator spectrum. I can go and get prime operator spectrum if it isn't in use in my local area, and use it at certain agreed power levels. That license is just for one location. There's also dedicated "held back for sharing" spectrum in the N77 5G band (3.8 to 4.2 GHz), which is more widely usable without detailed coordination (but you still need a low cost license) With modern spectrum access systems (see CBRS for example), geolocation of the radio is used to determine via a coordination server what spectrum can be used in a given location. Whether that's at risk of suppressing dissent or not is another discussion however - most radios in cellular networks will have some kind of backhaul and coordination management plane for interference avoidance and management - the threat model in cellular technology is a bit different still, and the communications are there to enable spectrum requests to be made in real-time. Spectrum coordination wouldn't need to be done by government - there's conceivable ways to do sensing and avoidance, but at the risk of tragedy of the commons scenarios.