There have been many good game theoretical papers written on these 3G and UMTS auctions in the European Union in 2000 and 2001. The main conclusion is that the prices of any auctioned licenses have fallen to low percentages of the original auction prices of these licenses.
I believe Finland was very incompetent during this auction process. Of course, one may have not necessarily known that the telecommunication, computer and Internet industries fall in 2000 and 2001, although some people had already forecast this since 1998 and 1999. I believe that people in the Central Bank of Finland would have been able to read the signs of the world economics to understand the development of the world at the time. But they failed and so Finland, people of Finland and any Finnish telecommunication entities involved in these auctions lost a magnificent amount of EUROs. I believe that two errors were made in the strategic approach of Finns in the game of the future 3G and UMTS telecommunication infrastructure:
- Finland never auctioned its air space, but gave it away freely, while it purchased air space of other EU states
- Finland did not make proper future financial and technological analysis of 3G - UMTS future developments and so paid too much for nothing
As a conclusion I may say that Finland was blinded by their own apparent and partly virtual success with its Nokia Corporation in the end of the 1990s. So Finland became arrogant and lost it all. It is also quite believable that these wrong decisions and choices by Finns in the 1990s and in the beginning of the 2000s have contributed to the failure of the economy of Finland and the fall of the independency of Finland. I would blame all current leaders of Finland for achieving this "greatness", although the secrecy around the German auction made it more intriguing to all participants and so blinding them even more. Finns probably were blue eyes in Germany as it has often been told so.
Interestingly these 3G, UMTS and other telecommunication prices started falling just few days after my divorce in Atlanta, the U.S.A. in March, 2000. I believe I am connected to this development and telecommunication evolution somehow without really knowing everything. For example, my former U.S. spouse's Sun Microsystems stocks have been falling ever since they divorced me in March, 2000. My former U.S. spouse may remember what happened in a room, where we had the separation agreement negotiation on the day of 3/9/2000 and how all people in the city building of Lawrenceville, Georgia, the U.S.A. had to leave the building. It was just something unexplainable and mysterious.
Markku (Mark) J. (John) Saarelainen (Islander) Varkaus (Theft), Finland
Varkaus means theft so .. Theft, Finland ... Mark J. Islander from Theft, Finland .. some people live in the place called "Hell" in Cayman Islands, where I visited too, but it was too hot for me ... but I live in the place called "Theft" in Finland. My eyes are brown and green.