The Changing Face of Telecommunications

Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson are the joint winners for the Nobel Prize for Economics [1] this year for their work "for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats." As we understand, the duo is credited with seminal work associated with the efficacy of the auctioning mechanism as a tool for price discovery. The 5G spectrum auctioning mechanism in India faces numerous questions – especially in the context of the newer learnings that we continue to discover through the pandemic. The pandemic has taught us how pivotal telecommunications is to keep the wheels of our economy and the society as a whole, moving. Even otherwise, spectrum auction has ceased to be a purely economic policy issue in India. The last three decades have witnessed heated public discourse on how this commodity be put to use. The dilemma is created by two contrarian forces: Spectrum auction as means of revenue maximization for the government, so that the government is di...