анонимный вопрос

I will start with the second part of the question. Of course, technically nothing prevents competing companies from placing a huge number of cell towers side by side that operate in the same frequency range, but this would lead to collisions, and the equipment would be unable to perform its primary purpose—providing mobile communication. Therefore, it can be confidently stated that the working frequency range for mobile communication is a scarce resource. And anything that is a scarce resource can be converted into property.

Now let’s move to the question of determining property rights for this peculiar object in the absence of an external regulator. There are only three permissible ways of acquiring property without violating libertarian principles: primary appropriation, purchase, and compensation for damages. It remains to understand the specifics of applying these methods to frequencies.

Technical characteristics of using frequencies for mobile communication (I am simplifying greatly, after all, this is a post about economics, not technology):
1. There is a specific frequency range for which equipment is manufactured. This range is optimal for mobile communication based on radio wave propagation characteristics: on the one hand, the phone antenna can be quite compact; on the other, waves do not attenuate too strongly in the environment and allow for sufficiently reliable reception indoors, shielded from the signal source by walls.
2. Using the entire frequency band within which mobile devices operate allows for the simultaneous transmission of a certain finite amount of information. The wider the frequency range used by a particular mobile operator, the wider the communication channel they can provide to their users, and consequently, the more users they can connect. More accurately, the less frequently they need to place towers to serve their users.
3. In addition to mobile operators, other companies may use the same frequency ranges for their own needs.

So, a certain mobile operator wants to enter a region. They estimate the tower density they minimally need at the start, depending on the population density in different parts of the region, infrastructure (communication is desirable along main highways, even if few people live there for some reason), and so on. Another parameter in determining tower density turns out to be the width of the frequency range the operator will use.

If there is no particular competition for frequencies, then there is no problem. The operator takes a large unused band and begins to exploit it. Gradually, competitors arrive, and this continues until the free ranges are exhausted. What should operators do now? First, they can abandon the idea of entering a region with such high competition and expand where competition is lower, but this is not always convenient, as subscribers want communication from their operator in all regions to avoid dealing with roaming. Second, they can buy a range from someone who is using it. Since the early adopters grabbed frequencies with a large margin, operators may initially agree to such offers at reasonable prices. Third, they can agree on the joint use of existing frequencies and equipment, which reduces costs for each party to the agreement. Such a precedent, by the way, occurred in Russia during the construction of fourth-generation networks: for them to work productively in densely populated areas, frequency bands must be quite wide and continuous, and so operators began to conclude agreements on the joint use of their ranges. The funniest part is that they had to obtain permission from the state for this, although, it would seem, what business is it of theirs.

Finally, a fourth possible tactic for an outsider is to ignore agreements and simply start placing their own towers and seizing frequencies on a first-come, first-served basis. As in, whether you like it or not, I am now also working on this frequency, and if you don’t like it—move. This is a declaration of war, which eventually ends in one agreement or another. War is a very ruinous enterprise that also damages one’s reputation. Judge for yourself: if subscribers of an existing operator begin to experience connection problems and the operator explains to them that this is because an outsider has arrived and is sticking in their towers, the outsider will have to offer simply revolutionary low tariffs for users to feel even a semblance of loyalty toward them. I do not rule out that occasionally such a seizure of frequencies will be economically justified, but far more often (ancap provides all the tools for this), the delusional will simply go bankrupt.