Spectrum Trading in the United Kingdom

This thesis considers the policy of liberalization via spectrum trading in the U.K. through the lenses of two perspectives on markets. The central research question of this thesis is: How is the outcome of the policy of liberalization via spectrum trading in the U.K. considered through the lenses of two perspectives on markets: the MO and MT approach? The MO approach (Market as objective) is the first perspective considered and it implies that an efficient resource allocation in spectrum will result from the introduction of markets. In the second perspective the market is used to facilitate rather than replace spectrum administration. This perspective is referred to as the market as tool approach (the MT approach). The thesis explores the difference in these two approaches, the relationship between them and the implications of taking one approach over the other.