The key engineering, legal and policy issues
Running an Ascending Clock Auction (ACA)
How the auction will run
Once it has been set up, the auction is largely an automated process with very little for the auctioneer to do. This section explains the automatic processes and indicates where manual intervention is required.
New rounds
Once the administrator has set up the start time, the round length and the break duration the first round of the auction will start at the specified day and time.
The round will last for the specified time (typically an hour or half an hour) and close automatically. There will be a break of the indicated length and round two will start automatically. This will continue until supply meets demand and the auction ends.
Round prices
The price of the lot(s) will rise automatically by the specified increment at the start of each new round.
Eligibility points (EP)
If a participant fails to bid in a round, then their EP will be automatically reduced in the next round, wiht no need for intervention from the auctioneer. For example, if a participant makes the following bids, there will be an automatic reduction in their eligibility points, as indicated in the final column.
Round | 800 MHz licences demanded (5ep) |
2.6 GHz licences demanded (1 ep) |
EP in that round |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
2 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
3 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
4 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
6 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Information available to the auctioneer
Once the auction is running, the auctioneer can see information about bidding behaviour via the status tab.