The viability of spectrum trading markets

Spectrum trading markets are of growing interest to many spectrum management agencies. They are motivated by their desire to increase the use of market-based mechanisms for spectrum management and reduce their emphasis on command and control methods. Despite the liberalization of regulations on spectrum trading in some countries, spectrum markets have not yet emerged as a key spectrum assignment component. The lack of liquidity in these markets is sometimes cited as a primary factor in this outcome. This work focuses on determining the conditions for viability of spectrum trading markets. We make use of agent-based computational economics to analyze different market scenario and the behaviors of its participants. Our results provide guidelines regarding the number of market participants and the amount of tradable spectrum that should be present in a spectrum trading market for it to be viable. We use the results of this analysis to make recommendations for the design of these markets.