So there is a lot of theoretical economic work on how to allocate limited rival resources like spectrum (and water). The consensus is that the efficient way to do it is auctions. I have quibbles with certain assumptions in that research,[1] but for stuff like cellular spectrum (where the owner can achieve extremely high utilization), auctioning to private companies is probably quite close to efficient. It would be more efficient if we got rid of restrictions on use and transfer.<p>Yes, that does mean that you end up with mega-corps providing your cellular service. But the same is true for say retail. Amazon will eat the whole industry. Physics as well as economics strongly favor mega-corps. Startups have advantages, but specific and narrow ones.<p>[1] See <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.scribd.com&#x2F;doc&#x2F;292530059&#x2F;Spectrum-Allocation-Local-Area-Wireless" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.scribd.com&#x2F;doc&#x2F;292530059&#x2F;Spectrum-Allocation-Loc...</a>