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Efficient Allocation of Radio Spectrum

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  • BENOÎT PIERRE FREYENS
  • CHRIS JONES

Abstract

Legislative reforms in Anglo-American countries require governments to account for efficient spectrum usage subject to interference control. New spectrum governance regimes promote flexible and competitive usage but the broadcasting industry remains exempt from reforms, at a significant cost to society. The need to liberalize broadcast spectrum cannot be overstated, but how should we select among alternative deregulatory regimes? In a simple stylized model we formalize the welfare effects of allocating licenses for using bandwidth on broadcast spectrum. We provide optimality conditions for entry, spectrum usage, and congestion levels under different market conditions, which allows us to justify the selection of specific governance arrangements.

Suggested Citation

  • Benoît Pierre Freyens & Chris Jones, 2014. "Efficient Allocation of Radio Spectrum," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 16(1), pages 1-23, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:16:y:2014:i:1:p:1-23
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/jpet.12045
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    1. Grønnevet, Gorm A. & Hansen, Bjørn & Reme, Bjørn-Atle, 2016. "Spectrum policy and competition in mobile data," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 34-41.
    2. Basaure, Arturo & Marianov, Vladimir & Paredes, Ricardo, 2015. "Implications of dynamic spectrum management for regulation," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 563-579.

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