IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlawec/v41y1998i2p765-90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spectrum Auctions: Yesterday's Heresy, Today's Orthodoxy, Tomorrow's Anachronism. Taking the Next Step to Open Spectrum Access

Author

Listed:
  • Noam, Eli

Abstract

The auction paradigm for spectrum allocation has moved from heresy to orthodoxy, but like its predecessors it will not be the end of history. A better alternative, not driven by the revenue needs of government, is license-free spectrum. Users would gain entry to frequency bands on a pay-as-you-go basis, instead of controlling a slice of the spectrum. They would transmit their content together with access tokens. These tokens are electronic money. Access prices would vary with congestion, set by automatic clearinghouses of spectrum users. Spot and futures markets for spectrum access would emerge. Once technology and economics can solve the interference problem in ways other than exclusivity, the question arises whether the right to use the spectrum for electronic speech is the government's to sell in the first place. Copyright 1998 by the University of Chicago.

Suggested Citation

  • Noam, Eli, 1998. "Spectrum Auctions: Yesterday's Heresy, Today's Orthodoxy, Tomorrow's Anachronism. Taking the Next Step to Open Spectrum Access," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 765-790, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:v:41:y:1998:i:2:p:765-90
    DOI: 10.1086/467412
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/467412
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/467412?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason & Hal Varian, 1994. "Economic FAQs About the Internet," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 75-96, Summer.
    2. Melody, William H, 1980. "Radio Spectrum Allocation: Role of the Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(2), pages 393-397, May.
    3. Forge, Simon, 0. "The radio spectrum and the organization of the future: Recapturing radio for new working patterns and lifestyles," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 53-75, January.
    4. Shelanski, Howard A & Huber, Peter W, 1998. "Administrative Creation of Property Rights to Radio Spectrum," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 581-607, October.
    5. Zupan, Mark A, 1989. "The Efficacy of Franchise Bidding Schemes in the Case of Cable Television: Some Systematic Evidence," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(2), pages 401-456, October.
    6. Crandall, Robert W, 1998. "New Zealand Spectrum Policy: A Model for the United States?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 821-840, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wellenius, Bjorn & Neto, Isabel, 2005. "The radio spectrum : opportunities and challenges for the developing world," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3742, The World Bank.
    2. McAfee, R. Preston & Miller, Alan D., 2012. "The tradeoff of the commons," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 349-353.
    3. Erik Bohlin & Gary Madden & Aaron Morey, 2010. "An Econometric Analysis of 3G Auction Spectrum Valuations," RSCAS Working Papers 2010/55, European University Institute.
    4. Cave, Martin & Webb, William, 2012. "The unfinished history of usage rights for spectrum," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 293-300.
    5. Fulvio Minervini & Diego Piacentino, 2007. "Spectrum Management and Regulation: Towards a Full-Fledged Market for Spectrum Bands?," Working Papers 07-2007, Macerata University, Department of Studies on Economic Development (DiSSE), revised Nov 2008.
    6. Kenneth R. CARTER, 2013. "Next Generation Spectrum Regulation:Price-Guided Radio Policy," Communications & Strategies, IDATE, Com&Strat dept., vol. 1(90), pages 41-62, 2nd quart.
    7. Lawrence White, 2000. ""Propertyzing" the Electromagnetic Spectrum: Why It's Important, and How to Begin," Working Papers 00-08, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    8. Cramton, Peter & Doyle, Linda, 2017. "Open access wireless markets," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 379-390.
    9. El-Moghazi, Mohamed & Whalley, Jason & Irvine, James, 2017. "The Future of International Radio Regulations: Transformation Towards Sharing," 28th European Regional ITS Conference, Passau 2017 169457, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    10. Gary Madden & Aaron Morey & Erik Bohlin, 2012. "Regulator Incentives and Third Generation National Mobile Telecommunications Market Entry," Chapters, in: Gerald R. Faulhaber & Gary Madden & Jeffrey Petchey (ed.), Regulation and the Performance of Communication and Information Networks, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Hemant K. Sabat, 2008. "Spectrum acquisition strategies adopted by wireless carriers in the USA," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 77-102, March.
    12. Cambini, Carlo & Garelli, Nicola, 2017. "Spectrum fees and market performance: A quantitative analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 355-366.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Freyens, Benoît, 2009. "A policy spectrum for spectrum economics," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 128-144, June.
    2. Thomas W. Hazlett, 2008. "Property Rights and Wireless License Values," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(3), pages 563-598, August.
    3. Freddy Huet & Simon Porcher, 2013. "Innovation and regulatory outcomes: evidence from the public-private contracts for water supply in France," Chapters, in: Mehmet Ugur (ed.), Governance, Regulation and Innovation, chapter 9, pages 216-236, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Luc Baumstark & Claude Ménard & William Roy & Anne Yvrande-Billon, 2005. "Modes de gestion et efficience des opérateurs dans le secteur des transports urbains de personnes," Post-Print halshs-00103116, HAL.
    5. Werner Troesken, 1994. "The Institutional Antecedents of State Utility Regulation: The Chicago Gas Industry, 1860 to 1913," NBER Chapters, in: The Regulated Economy: A Historical Approach to Political Economy, pages 55-80, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Langinier, Corinne & Marcoul, Philippe, 2009. "Contributory infringement rule and patents," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(1-2), pages 296-310, May.
    7. Amaral, Miguel & Saussier, Stéphane & Yvrande-Billon, Anne, 2009. "Auction procedures and competition in public services: The case of urban public transport in France and London," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 166-175, June.
    8. Eshien Chong & Freddy Huet & Stéphane Saussier & Faye Steiner, 2006. "Public-Private Partnerships and Prices: Evidence from Water Distribution in France," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 29(1), pages 149-169, September.
    9. Laffont, Jean-Jacques, 1994. "The New Economics of Regulation Ten Years After," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(3), pages 507-537, May.
    10. Thomas W. Hazlett, 2008. "Optimal Abolition of FCC Spectrum Allocation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 103-128, Winter.
    11. Fielding, Gordon J. & Klein, Daniel B., 1993. "How To Franchise Highways," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt79z9x6fs, University of California Transportation Center.
    12. Shavit, Tal & Sonsino, Doron & Benzion, Uri, 2001. "A comparative study of lotteries-evaluation in class and on the Web," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 483-491, August.
    13. Gary Madden & Scott Savage, 2000. "Some Economic and Social Aspects of Residential Internet Use in Australia," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 171-185.
    14. Susan Athey & Philip A. Haile, 2002. "Identification of Standard Auction Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(6), pages 2107-2140, November.
    15. Arnott, Richard & de Palma, Andre & Lindsey, Robin, 1999. "Information and time-of-usage decisions in the bottleneck model with stochastic capacity and demand," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 525-548, March.
    16. Mayo, John W. & Wallsten, Scott, 2010. "Enabling efficient wireless communications: The role of secondary spectrum markets," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 61-72, March.
    17. Hakam Kamleh, 2005. "La nouvelle organisation ferroviaire britannique : sur la frontière entre intégration et désintégration," CAE Working Papers 28, Aix-Marseille Université, CERGAM.
    18. Paul A. David, 2005. "The Beginnings and Prospective Ending of “End-to-End”: An Evolutionary Perspective On the Internet’s Architecture," Industrial Organization 0502012, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Eshien Chong & Freddy Huet & Stéphane Saussier, 2006. "Auctions, Ex Post Competition And Prices: The Efficiency Of Public‐Private Partnerships," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(4), pages 521-554, December.
    20. Thomas W. Hazlett & David Porter & Vernon Smith, 2011. "Radio Spectrum and the Disruptive Clarity of Ronald Coase," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(S4), pages 125-165.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:v:41:y:1998:i:2:p:765-90. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JLE .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.