Computech Delivers Auction Solution to Mexico’s Telecommunications Regulator

COFETEL Leverages Automated Licensing Technologies to Successfully Allocate Spectrum Licenses, Raise Revenue & Increase Competition

BETHESDA, MD–(Marketwire – September 10, 2010) – Mexico’s telecommunication regulator, Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones (COFETEL), and information technology consulting firm, Computech, announced the results of this summer’s 1.7 and 1.9 GHz spectrum auctions, which raised a combined $640 million. By comparing and contrasting US/Mexico spectrum policies, Computech adapted its auction platform (CAP) to all of COFETEL’s requirements, enabling the Mexican government to automate the auction process, which allowed for greater efficiency, optimal pricing and increased bidder participation.

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To read the full release “Computech Delivers Auction Solution to Mexico’s Telecommunications Regulator” please see: http://bit.ly/9c9dfF.  We will be posting have included the Spanish + Portuguese versions of this release on our site.


Posted on Friday, September 10th, 2010 at 9:21 am and is filed under News, Online Auctions.

By: Computech

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Computech wins the trust of Sweden’s telecoms regulator

The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) has awarded Computech a place on its framework agreement to provide consulting services to support their spectrum auctions.  The competition to provide either simultaneous multi-round (SMR) or Clock auctions drew global interest; we’re pleased to announce Computech is the sole North American firm qualified by PTS to support either style of spectrum auction.


Posted on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 2:30 pm and is filed under News, Online Auctions, spectrum management.

By: Computech

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Behind the Scenes with CAP & COFETEL, take 2

In my last entry, I touched on the initial phase in our auction development lifecycle with COFETEL – requirements.  Today, I’m sharing our auction team’s training experiences with the Mexican regulator.

Three months after we visited COFETEL to present the initial wireframes, COFETEL stakeholders & subject matter experts (SME’s) traveled to our headquarters in Bethesda, MD to participate in “Integrated System Testing” sessions with our auctions team.  Over the course of a week, we ran several simulated auction scenarios from start to close.  This testing trip served multiple purposes:

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1. We established a common understanding of all system requirements.

2. Hands-on, screen-by-screen walk-throughs of the Administration and Bidding Systems.

3. SME’s from both teams tested all system functionality on a rotating schedule to ensure complete coverage and understanding of requirements.

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A little more than a month later, our team flew back to Mexico City to install and conduct Acceptance Testing for phase 1 of the project.  During our  first week there, we installed software on COFETEL’s servers, tested CAP internally, and trained COFETEL staff on how to administer an auctions.  This last part was pretty interesting, as it included creating an auction instance, defining auction-specific settings, and managing mid-auction parameters to control auction pace — all using the Administration System we built into CAP.

During week two, we borrowed nearly 20 COFETEL’ers to bid as 8 different bidders over the course of two Mock Auctions.  Each mock auction involved two concurrent Auctions composed of unique license sets, bidding and processing parameters, spectrum caps by region, and alternating round schedules.  This setup was in practice for COFETEL’s plan to run their two recent Auctions, 20 and 21, in parallel.

For our last trip prior to the live auctions, COFETEL scheduled a busy and publicity-rich week.  The Computech team supported Cofetel by creating the presentation and system demonstration for COFETEL to present at three key events that week:

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1. COFETEL’s press conference regarding auction design and rules;

2. The bidding seminar for the spectrum industry and auction participants, which covered the upcoming auction design, specific rules, and nuances of the system interfaces; and

3. Their internal presentation to the Commissioners and Chairman of COFETEL.

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Following the Bidder Seminar, we led mock auctions for the participants to familiarize themselves with CAP’s Spanish release. We administered these auctions using real license (“concurso”) data, but participants took on personas identified by colors such as “Rosa” and “Azul”.  Cofetel and Computech jointly tackled bidder’s questions on such things as activity calculations and results reporting.

And so began our final 2 weeks in Mexico City leading up to COFETEL’s Licitaciones 20 & 21.  In preparation for the big day, we ran internal mock auctions to verify the final software release and the production environment.  While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S. administers auctions using remote bidding, Mexico operates using on-site bidding which occurred on COFETEL premises.  In this manner, on the morning of May 25, 2010, Auctions 20 & 21 kicked off with representatives from Mexico’s major telecommunication companies on-site.  The feeling was somewhat bittersweet, yet full of excitement and anticipation for what Round 1 would have in store!

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Sarah Miller is a member of  Computech’s Auction Practice.  She specializes in auction system design and implementation and is the lead Business Analyst for the Computech Auction Platform (CAP).


Posted on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 1:38 pm and is filed under News, Online Auctions, spectrum management.

By: admin

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