For 3G, instead of selling the spectrum the PTS in Sweden did a "beauty contest" and gave it away to the companies that promised the biggest buildout in the sma

For 3G, instead of selling the spectrum the PTS in Sweden did a "beauty contest" and gave it away to the companies that promised the biggest buildout in the smallest amount of time. Sounded like a great idea, the money that would go to a spectrum license would instead go to building out the network instead, but it was kind of a flop. Telia was left without a license and had to share licenses with Tele2 who didn't want to invest as much, and Orange got a license and immediately said "nevermind this is too expensive" and canceled their plans. And then everyone took 3 years longer than they promised in their proposals so it didn't even speed up the buildout.