Competition, mergers and site costs: lessons learned from the iterated cost model

Recently we’ve been working on expanding the capability of one of our mobile network models – the iterated cost (or bootstrap) model. In a nutshell, this model treats buyers and sellers of mobile data as rational economic agents. When the cost of supplying data falls, consumers buy more of it. Similarly, operators invest in additional[…]

The spectrum crunch is dead, long live spectrum demand

The assessment of future mobile data and spectrum demand is an important policy and business strategy question. The orthodox approach to these linked questions starts from a mobile data traffic projection to infer spectrum demand and value. However, future mobile data demand is uncertain, and spectrum demand and value is sensitive to data demand, since[…]

Plum Insight: Do you need a mobile data forecast to estimate spectrum demand?

Spectrum demand is a key input to decisions over spectrum allocation and assignment. Yet estimates of spectrum demand are sensitive to assumptions regarding future mobile traffic, which are uncertain. In this Insight we consider an alternative approach to modelling the demand for spectrum which dispenses with the need for a data traffic forecast. Instead, the[…]