Spectrum Auctions in Turkey: Recent Developments and a Critical Assessment

This paper aims to provide a snapshot of the Turkish mobile market and evaluation of the auction process in mobile market. Turkey with a mobile coverage rate of 99.65% provided by more than 90 thousand base station sites constitutes a good example for mobile market in Europe. This rate is among the best coverage rates throughout Europe. Examples from other countries are also presented as a way of comparison and reaching conclusions for policy makers and practitioners. The use of auctions to enhance allocative efficiency of a scarce resource such as telecom spectrum is vital. However, the desired efficiencies shall not be realized unless the auction design and spectrum management policies are both optimal. Thus, a model of spectrum auctions is developed for the purpose of this study as a contribution to the literature. The model is based both on earlier experiences of Information and Communication Technologies Agency of Turkey and conclusions drawn from the literature. The model suggests a straightforward roadmap and flowchart for the policy makers.