[c06n]

It has worked very badly in Germany as well. In the year 1999, the UMTS licenses were auctioned based on Milgrom and Wilsom's ideas. The government's revenue was awesome, but it came at a high price. The telcos had to take up large credits, hindering future investments in their their mobile networks. Today, Germany has one of the worst mobile networks in the western countries.

article in German: https://www.golem.de/news/mobilfunk-umts-versteigerungstakti...

[hcknwscommenter]

I mean, maybe? It is a huge stretch to tie a specific event (auction and the related debt) to the ensuing 20 years worth of telecom infrastructure investment. This implies (incorrectly) that there are no other significant reasons Germany might lag in mobile network investment.

[watt]

It fits, though. It's like the opposite of subsidizing an industry: saddling it with a crippling debt instead. And yes, Germany has awful telecom infrastructure, and lags behind the likes of Spain or Czechia horribly.

All because telcos here need to recoup the initial "investment" and are not getting to the newest tech while everybody else is.

[nashashmi]

Well said. Blame the act of crediting being used for auctions. It hurts the losers, winners, and users. Only govt (sort of) wins.