A public notice that one or more individual licences will be issued generally includes a brief summary of the opportunity and the proposed licensing process. Information commonly included in a public notice is:
- a description of the services or facilities to be authorized;
- the geographic area of the licence;
- the competitive process that will be used to award the licence; and
- key dates in the licensing process, especially the deadline for submitting applications.
Some longer notices include information about pre-qualification and selection criteria; information about application and licence fees; and other information that is usually left to the licensing guide.
Some licensing authorities charge a sizable fee for the purchase of the guide to the licensing process. In such cases, it is necessary to provide enough information in the public announcement for interested persons to determine whether it is worth purchasing the full licensing package.
Public notices may be in print or electronic format, or both. Notices typically appear on the web site of the regulator, in the trade press, magazines, newspapers, journals and other media where industry participants can be expected to learn of the notice.