The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) commissioned DotEcon to develop generic spectrum auction rules for four different auction formats and to analyse the performance of these formats under different supply and demand scenarios. DotEcon was also tasked with assessing the scope for strategic bidding in preparation for the planned award of spectrum in the 700MHz and 2.5GHz bands in Australia. The formats studied in our report include:
the simultaneous-multiple round ascending auction (SMRA), pioneered by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and used for many spectrum auctions to date;
the simultaneous-multiple round ascending auction with hierarchical package bidding (SMRA-HPB), developed by the FCC for its award of spectrum in the 700MHz band;
the standard combinatorial clock auction (standard CCA), developed by DotEcon and Ofcom for a series of UK auctions from 2008 onwards, and used in awards by a number of European countries; and
the simplified combinatorial clock auction (simplified CCA), a new auction design combining features of the standard CCA and an alternative version of the combinatorial clock auction, developed by David Porter, Stephen Rassenti, Anil Roopnarine and Vernon Smith.
