Centres Of Excellence

To focus on new and emerging areas of research and education, Centres of Excellence have been established within the Institute. These ‘virtual' centres draw on resources from its stakeholders, and interact with them to enhance core competencies

Read More >>

Faculty

Faculty members at IIMB generate knowledge through cutting-edge research in all functional areas of management that would benefit public and private sector companies, and government and society in general.

Read More >>

IIMB Management Review

Journal of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

IIM Bangalore offers Degree-Granting Programmes, a Diploma Programme, Certificate Programmes and Executive Education Programmes and specialised courses in areas such as entrepreneurship and public policy.

Read More >>

About IIMB

The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) believes in building leaders through holistic, transformative and innovative education

Read More >>

The Economics of Mobile Wireless Spectrum

Volume 17, Number 1 Article by Hemant Kumar Sabat March, 2005

The Economics of Mobile Wireless Spectrum: Distribution and Regulation in the US :

Facilitating the technological leap from mobile voice to a medium offering content that is increasingly being dominated by data are industry and business drivers, prime among which are the investments made by network operators and capital investments, including spectrum acquisition investments. The investment to acquire spectrum is enormous and impacts the operator's ability to grow and run a sustainable business. Therefore, national governments and telecommunications regulatory agencies drive the economics of mobile wireless spectrum that includes ownership, distribution and regulation. Regulatory bodies utilise spectrum distribution and regulatory instruments to shape a country's spectrum market.

Hemant K Sabat abstracts and applies the theory of spectrum distribution and regulation to the spectrum industry in the US. This paper describes how the US government and its regulatory body,the Federal Communications Commission, distribute and regulate spectrum in the US mobile wireless industry, and the impact of the spectrum rulings on the US spectrum market. Within the regulatory framework established by the FCC, mobile wireless network operators pursue various strategies to acquire spectrum, which is required to offer wireless services.

National governments and telecom regulators of other countries, including emerging markets, researchers, investors, managers, the investment analyst community, service providers, equipment manufacturers, carrier associations, and other telecom representatives could benefit from this paper. However, the thesis has not been statistically 'time-tested'. Apart from a multitude of cultural, social, political and economic factors that affect the spectrum rulings in different countries, as the industry evolves, the value chain, market, regulatory environment and service offerings are constantly changing and the nature and type of changes will vary.

Reprint No 05104