Opportunity cost of spectrum for mobile communications: Evaluation of spectrum prices in Bangladesh

摘要

The purpose of this study is to focus attention on the choice of the reserve price made by the telecom regulator to explain the under-performance of spectrum auctions in Bangladesh. The overestimation of the reserve prices for several auctions in Bangladesh including the auction of the 3G - 2100 MHz band in 2013, the 2G - 1800 MHz band in 2015, and the 4G - 1800 and 2100 MHz bands in 2018 is established by comparing the reserve prices to the economic value of spectrum, determined by using the engineering valuation and production function approaches. Possible reasons for the inflation of the reserve price are discussed.