Since the FCC organized the first telecom auction in 1994 in the USA, there has been an ongoing discussion regarding these auctions. Questions include: What is the most appropriate auction design? Should revenue be an objective of these auctions? Do the outcomes of auctions raise consumer prices for telecommunication services? Despite these questions, these auctions have been widely considered to be one of the most important successes of game theory in practice and academics around the world have been developing new auction models with the intention to prevent some of the shortcomings of more traditional models.
Starting with 3G, spectrum auctions have also been organized in Austria on a regular basis. Auctions have advantages over other allocation processes in that they typically ensure that the spectrum is used efficiently. On the other hand, in 2001 some commentators suspected that bidders had colluded in the Austrian auction and in 2013 the allocation of available spectrum was uneven across bidders and auction prices were considered to be very high. As there are different auction designs available, it is important to know how to choose the most appropriate design.
In 2018 the Austrian regulator TTK/RTR will organize a new auction in Austria for the so-called 5G spectrum bands. On April 9, 2018 the University of Vienna organizes a panel discussion about the international experience with different auction designs and its impact on the current proposals for the Austrian auction design. Practitioners, policy makers, students and academics with an interest in public policy concerning the telecommunication sector are invited to participate in this discussion. No prior knowledge of auctions is expected.
The program for April 9, 2018:
18.00: Opening by Univ.Prof.dr Christine Zulehner (University of Vienna)
18.10 – 19.00: Presentations by Univ.Prof.dr. Martin Bichler (TU München), Mr. Nick Fookes (Communication Chambers) and Univ.Prof.dr. Maarten Janssen (University of Vienna)
19.00 – 19.30: Discussion between panellists and with the audience
19.30 – 20.15: Informal continuation of the discussion
Please register until April 1 to next.auction@univie.ac.at .
Location: Sky Lounge, Oskar Morgensternplazt 1 (12th floor), 1090 Vienna.
Organizers: Univ.Prof.dr. Maarten Janssen, Univ.Prof.dr Christine Zulehner (University of Vienna).
Sponsor: A1 Telecom Austria
