The Dutch UMTS-auction

Abstract

In this paper I review the Dutch UMTS-auction that took place in the summer of 2000 and which, in contrast to the UK and German auctions, was generally considered to be a major flop.I analyse the policy process leading to the auction as well as the bidding behaviour in the auction, and provide an evaluation of both.I demonstrate that the case contains several useful lessons for other auction design problems.auctions;telecommunications