Nobel Prize in economics awarded to Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson
Source: CNN
London (CNN Business) American economists Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in economics for their contributions to auction theory, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on Monday. Milgrom and Wilson, who are both professors at Stanford University in California, were recognized for theoretical discoveries that improved how auctions work.
According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, they also designed auction formats for goods and services that are difficult to sell in a traditional way, such as radio frequencies. "This year's Laureates in Economic Sciences started out with fundamental theory and later used their results in practical applications, which have spread globally.
Their discoveries are of great benefit to society," Peter Fredriksson, chair of the prize committee, said in a statement. According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the economists invented new formats for auctioning many interrelated objects on behalf of a seller motivated by doing good for society rather than simply achieving the highest price possible. In 1994, US authorities first used one of their formats to sell bands of radio spectrum. Doing so helped ensure that taxpayers were benefiting from the sale of radio frequencies that were owned by the government but of enormous value to mobile network operators.
The prize for economics is officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences. It was established by Sweden's central bank and has been awarded since 1969 in memory of industrialist Alfred Nobel. Milgrom and Wilson will share 10 million Swedish kroner ($1.1 million) in prize money.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/business/nobel-prize-economics/index.html
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@NobelPrize
BREAKING NEWS:
The 2020 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson "for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats."
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5:47 AM · Oct 12, 2020
Original article -
The prize for economics is officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences. It was established by Sweden's central bank and has been awarded since 1969 in memory of industrialist Alfred Nobel.
In 2019, the economics prize was awarded to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for their work to alleviate global poverty. Duflo, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was the youngest person and only the second woman to be awarded the prize.
Last week, the World Food Programme was awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and its "contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas."
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Last edited Mon Oct 12, 2020, 08:59 AM - Edit history (1)
which was a PA 4th year history requirement. And agree that there are all kinds of "schools of thought" on economic systems and policies (including the distortions of them 
).
In this case however, I thought this was unique - particularly the idea of how the FCC was doing those broadband frequency allocations. The media reports on which companies were able to obtain various blocks of frequencies being offered as the auctions occurred and after they were awarded, never delved into how they went about the bid process and how they chose the winner.
I *think* the broadband spectrum auctions started happening after the 2007 switchover of TV frequencies from analog to digital. And that freed up various blocks of what would now be "unused" chunks of VHF that could be "sold" by the government.
Those frequencies would be a mix of that might be great for one application (like cellular) or for other applications (various devices that transmit over some RF). The ones mostly bidding on these were (at least initially), the cell companies like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint, etc., and based on what they already owned, they needed to do some jockeying to "fill in" some frequencies that they felt they needed for their cellular/broadband expansion "vision" based on the frequencies' ability to "penetrate a building" vs provide a greater "range/distance" of the overall signal coverage.
An wondering if they did the auction using some kind of a "ranked choice" thing (with price factored in somewhere). 
(where their "proposal" is part of that)
Here is what they list about the process -
[snip]
Who is eligible?
[snip]
This window is a unique opportunity for Tribes in rural areas to directly access unassigned spectrum over their Tribal lands, subject to buildout requirements. The 2.5 GHz band is suitable for both mobile coverage and fixed point-to-point uses, and is currently used to provide broadband service by legacy educational licensees and commercial providers that lease the spectrum. Depending on your needs, it can play an important role in the deployment of broadband and other advanced communications services on your Tribal lands. Please find more detailed information below, including how to determine whether 2.5 GHz spectrum is available over your Tribal lands.
What is available?
The spectrum available in this window is a portion of the 2.5 GHz band, consisting of three different channels: one 49.5 megahertz channel, one 50.5 megahertz channel, and one 17.5 megahertz channel. Tribal applicants may apply for one, two, or all three of these channels, depending on availability.*
In the Rural Tribal Window, tribal applicants may apply for any of the spectrum in these channels that is not currently licensed to another entity, as long as the desired license area is rural Tribal land (see "Who is eligible?" above). Current licenses in this band cover approximately 50% of the geographic area of the United States.
In order to apply for a license in the Tribal Priority Window, there must be some spectrum on the channel and over the rural Tribal land that is not currently licensed to another licensee. If there is any unassigned spectrum, an eligible Tribal entity may choose to apply for an overlay license for the entire channel over the whole qualifying Tribal land. Once a license is issued, the Tribal licensee will immediately have the authority to operate in those areas and on those channels that are not licensed to another licensee*. The Tribal licensee will not have the authority to operate in areas covered by an existing license, even if the existing licensee is not operating in that area. If the existing license is cancelled or expired, however, the Tribal licensee will automatically acquire the authority to operate on rural Tribal land in the spectrum and area previously covered by the existing license.
* = you might have had 2 tribes "apply" for one or all of those frequencies in a contiguous area, so they might have some "process" that is "first come, first served" or some other criteria to determine who gets the frequencies.
The bigger issue for them, which would correspond with a lack of demand is (as noted by the FCC's announcement) - the caveat of "building out" and putting these frequencies "in use" within 2 years, which is often considered a tall order even for the big companies.
The tribes that have casino income would have more money to be able to do that, but others, forget it. 
