3G licensing in Russia
The Russian government recently announced that it will tender 3G licenses early next year. On 27 November, the GSM Association hosted a workshop on 3G Licensing in Moscow in cooperation with the 3G Association of Russia and with the support of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technologies of the Russian Federation.
At the workshop Frontier (London) presented the results of a study assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the two main licence award mechanisms, spectrum auctions and beauty contests. Following the UK auction of 3G licences in 2000, there has been a large number of 3G licence awards, based on both auctions and beauty contests. The study has reviewed this international experience, the key principles underlying the use of different award mechanisms, and the practical experience of post-award performance, to draw key lessons for the design of a successful award mechanism.

