Review of licence fees in the Australian 17.3-51.4 GHz band

Plum was engaged by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to review the current taxes for the Ka (17.3-51.4 GHz) spectrum band, and to investigate how existing taxation arrangements could be improved. Plum concluded that the Ka band was unlikely to become congested in the near future, and that many frequency bands have witnessed[…]

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, similar to those operating within digital markets like a casino utan svensk licens, where regulatory differences can[…]

Valuation of mobile broadband spectrum in Taiwan

Plum was part of the study team which advised the National Communications Commission on the auction of the 2.6 GHz band in Taiwan. Plum’s consultants led the valuation work, which employed a combination of techniques including international benchmarking, econometrics, avoided cost modelling and enterprise valuation. The work also included an assessment of the potential impact[…]

Reserve prices in spectrum auctions – why size matters

Auctions have proved to be a popular tool among governments and regulators for the assignment ofscarce spectrum resources for mobile use. While the economic rationale for auctions is sound, the actualimplementation has at times been flawed and the implications costly. This Insight looks at spectrumauction trends over the last decade, focusing on reserve prices in[…]

Vorsprung durch Econometrics – what drives spectrum value?

Radiospectrum is a vital input in the provision of mobile services. Additional spectrum enhances the coverage and capacity of mobile networks, enabling them to meet the ever-growing demand for mobile data. Yet attaching an appropriate value to spectrum is a perennial problem for regulators and operators – regulators must decide how to allocate spectrum and[…]

To Buy or Not To Buy: the value of AWS spectrum in Paraguay

Plum carried out an exercise for Telecom Argentina looking at the value of spectrum in various bands for their operations in Paraguay. This project was designed to inform Telecom Argentina of the relative value of spectrum, and to influence their future strategy around participation in spectrum auctions and other spectrum acquisition.

Global momentum and economic impact of the 1.4/1.5 GHz band for IMT

This study for the GSMA demonstrates the gathering global momentum around adoption of 1.4/1.5 GHz band for IMT services in the run up to WRC-15.  The 1.4/1.5 GHz band is of value to IMT services because it provides much needed capacity to support traffic growth and has propagation characteristics that support better rural and in-building[…]

Terrestrial broadcasting and spectrum use in the Arab states

In order to identify where spectrum in the UHF bands could be made available for mobile broadband, Plum surveyed the television broadcasting markets across the Middle East and calculated how a move to digital television could free up significant amounts of spectrum in the sub-800MHz bands.  Starting with the assumption that the number of channels[…]

Valuing mobile spectrum in Mexico

Plum was commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank to provide advice to the Mexican telecommunications regulator, the IFT, on the appropriate way of valuing spectrum ahead of a number of auctions.  The IFT was set to significantly expand the amount of spectrum available to operators, and wanted to understand the appropriate level for reserve prices[…]