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  • Computech wins the trust of Sweden’s telecoms regulator Posted on: Friday, September 3rd, 2010

    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.

  • Behind the Scenes with CAP & COFETEL, take 2 Posted on: Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

    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).

  • Behind the Scenes with CAP & COFETEL, take 1 Posted on: Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

    With Mexico’s Auctions 20+21 closed and the winners revealed, I thought it would be interesting to share some behind the scenes details of delivering Mexico’s auction solution.  Between the summer of 2009 and spring of 2010, the Computech and COFETEL international partnership relied on taking turns traveling between Washington D.C. and la ciudad de Mexico.  Over the next series of entries, I’ll be walking you through various aspects of supporting the auction lifecycle.  On tap today – spectrum caps.

    In June (’09), COFETEL’s auctions stakeholders & subject matter experts spent a week in our Bethesda offices discussing the intricacies that Auctions 20+21 had in store.  Together, we compared and contrasted U.S. & Mexico spectrum policies to hash out system requirements.  Soon thereafter, our team crossed the border with an initial set of system requirements and wireframes to present to our COFETEL partners.  Much of this trip revolved around spectrum caps – logic, levels, and logistics.

    One key element of incorporating spectrum caps into CAP (our auction platform), related to the concurrent nature of Auctions 20 + 21 (i.e. the auctions were run in a parallel fashion by alternating rounds).  Therefore, in order to handle spectrum caps that comprised both auctions, we implemented spectrum caps at an auction-level as well as a region-level. In this way, the system tracked a company’s MHz holdings within a distinct auction (i.e. bidding in 20 or 21), as well as across both auctions (i.e. bidding in 20 and 21).

    Based on spectrum cap levels set by Mexico’s Federal Competition Commission (COFECO), CAP effectively restricted bidding by notifying bidders in real-time in the case of ineligible bids due to these caps.  Additionally, CAP provided a Spectrum Cap Report, which disclosed bidder-specific spectrum information by geographic region (1-9 for Mexico).  End result?  The Nextel-Televisa consortium entered the nationwide market with a winning bid on a 30 MHz block of spectrum, and spectrum caps effectively introduced (or limited, depending on your perspective) competition into the nationwide market for Mexico.  I know cases can be made for the +’s & -‘s of each side, but I’ll save that debate for another day.

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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).

  • COFETEL’s Auctions 20 & 21 Posted on: Friday, August 20th, 2010

    Browsing BroadbandBreakfast.com this morning, I came across a posting about Mexico’s recent Spectrum Auctions (Auctions 20 & 21) hosted by the Comisión Federal De Telecomunicaciones (COFETEL). This post prompted me to reminisce about my time spent at COFETEL in Mexico City supporting the auction process with my Computech teammates. It is hard to believe it has been exactly 1 month since Auction 20 & Auction 21 both officially closed, and closed with great success. COFETEL has yet to release the final auction results to announce winning bidders, but the preliminary revenue numbers are booming.

    Auction 20 closed in Round 77 (28 days worth of bidding) with all 24 licenses selling, generating nearly $3 Billion pesos ($2,977,265,000 pesos ≈ $230 Million USD). COFETEL subsequently closed Auction 21 after 86 rounds and 30 days of bidding, with 28 of 29 licenses selling. One of two nationwide licenses sold, and the winning bid was one that lived from Round 1 for $180,300,000 pesos. Auction 21 alone generated over $5 Billion pesos ($5,248,049,000 pesos ≈ $413 Million USD). Together, Auctions 20 & 21 revenues tallied $8.2 Billion pesos for the Mexican government, nearly $6.5 Million USD.

    I am proud to look back on the last year as a series of successes for both COFETEL & Computech. The past year represents several weeks of journeying between D.C. & Mexico City, trips on which the Computech team lead system demonstrations & training sessions for both internal system users as well as auction participants. Our team also created the presentation that COFETEL delivered in a press conference regarding auction design and rules, at the bidding seminar for the spectrum industry and auction participants, as well as in their internal presentation to the Commissioners and Chairman of COFETEL. We could not be more pleased that our Computech Auction Platform (CAP) supported COFETEL through this process and in the end facilitated two profitable and efficient auctions.

  • Come one, Come all (take 2) Posted on: Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

    Last October, we welcomed the world to Concomitantly. Designed to reflect our corporate culture, we’ve noticed the flavor of our writing trends towards the technical.  Over the past eleven months, we’ve used our blog as a virtual bulletin board to broach new ideas (e.g. on spectrum management) and share our approach to business challenges (e.g. modernizing legacy systems).

    Along the way, we’ve shared stories, laughs and pictures of the great staff that makes Computech the IT firm so many know + respect.

    So in the spirit of sharing a little more about the types of people that work here, a Wednesday morning link to three blogs penned by our staff.

    Our marketing manager Lauren Modeen writes the ever-entertaining Exhilauren’s Marketing Musings. Check out her latest entry on How to Survive the Idea Project Plateau (inspired by the99percent).

    Vice President Al Dominick authors DCSpring21; his most recent post, A Dizzying Pace of Change, touches on Big Data, mobile broadband, the promise of distributed collaboration and the opportunity to “test + learn.”

    But we’re not all business all the time.  If you’re into knitting, food + fun in D.C., one of our project coordinators, Jennifer Kirschbaum, writes a blog that is a must read.

    While just a few examples, we’re happy to share.  Let us know what you think of each — and what you’d like to see more of on Concomitantly in the upcoming weeks and months.

  • La Licitacion 20 Posted on: Monday, August 2nd, 2010

    As a follow up to last week’s entry on Mexico’s spectrum auctions, a link to a recent COFETEL “Comunicado de Prensa.”  If you’re a student of the Spanish language, you’ll want to take note of the following statement in this press release: “la culminación de esta licitación constituye un hecho de gran relevancia para el país, puesto que los participantes ganadores dispondrán de una cantidad equivalente a 30 MHz adicionales de espectro radioeléctrico para ampliar y mejorar la calidad y cobertura de los servicios de telecomunicaciones en beneficio de millones de mexicanos.”  To read about the role we played, check out the case studies we just posted – available in both English and Spanish.

  • CAP y COFETEL Posted on: Friday, July 23rd, 2010

    Computech’s support of Mexico’s Comisión Federal De Telecomunicaciones (COFETEL) spans more than a decade. Since customizing a licensed version of the FCC’s automated auction system in the late 90′s, we’ve served as the sole auction solution provider to COFETEL.  Over the years, we’ve expanded our relationship with the regulator to provide auction policy and design consulting services in addition to auction system services.  Today, our firm serves as the service provider for COFETEL’s entire spectrum auction program.


    I wanted to provide that background as an introduction to this afternoon’s entry.  With a number of recent posts highlighting our support of the FCC — or detailing European spectrum management issues — a pleasant shift in focus to our friends from the south.  This May, Computech’s auction team initiated two parallel auctions — Auction 20 & Auction 21 — on-site with the COFETEL auction team and auction participants.  To run the auctions, COFETEL used our auction platform, CAP, and relied on our auction team to act as an extension of their department.

    Today, the results are in: COFETEL generated more than $8.2 Billion pesos in combined high bid amounts from the two auctions, over a course of 163 rounds and 30 bidding days.  A breakdown of the two auctions follows below.
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    Days of Bidding Number of Rounds Winning Bids ($ US Dollar) Winning Bids
    ($ Mexican Peso)
    Auction 20 28 77 $ 230,440,311 $    2,977,265,000
    Auction 21 30 86 $ 406,198,993 $    5,248,049,000
    $636,639,304 $8,225,314,000
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    Interested to learn more about these auctions and the support our auction team provided?  
    Drop me a line or give me a call at 301.656.4030.  I’d be happy to share some background — or put you in touch with the various members of our team who came back super tanned after spending time in la ciudad de mexico.

  • We’re hiring Posted on: Monday, July 19th, 2010

    With a stable of long term clients, Computech is looking to bring more talented developers and business analysts to our team. Interested to become part of a legacy of innovative ideas and fault-free performance?  Apply now.

  • Odds + Ends Posted on: Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

    A hodgepodge of thoughts + links to share on yet another brutally hot and humid Washington, D.C. day…

    Last month, Katie Fallet posted a piece about an application we designed + developed for the FCC that fosters communication between American Indian Tribes + government agencies: the Tower Construction Notification System (TCNS).  Yesterday afternoon, I learned the real origins of the system: it was conceived as an online chat room.  Yes, in the pre-blog days, the FCC had a forward-looking plan to provide an online destination for Tribes to share thoughts and ideas with the agency.  When security concerns arose, so too did TCNS as an alternative, more secure, means to increase communication with Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHOs)…

    …If you’re a regular follower of #Concomitantly, you probably recall a series of spectrum-related posts I added from London and Brussels a few weeks ago.  Since landing in D.C., I’ve been reminded that EU members aren’t the only ones looking at spectrum allocation as a means to spur economic recovery.  Case-in-point: the White House recently laid out plans to dramatically increase the amount of federal and commercial spectrum available for smart phones and wireless Internet.  Freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum like the White House directed last week?  Our Operations Research team on assignment at the FCC is already on it.  In fact, we’re building a model of the spectrum used by television stations to identify spectrum availability; as of now, approximately 120 MHz has been ID’d…

    …Was it really less six months ago that we were digging out of “snow-maggedon III?”  Terrible, really, to slog ones way to work on the metro here in D.C. without even a hint of a breeze.  Even more so when our subway system doesn’t seem to run on any real/predictable schedule.  I wonder if we can help optimize our travel experience; after all, most operations research involve the construction of a mathematical model to describe important relationships.  In this case, I think keeping passengers cool — and not waiting on steamy platforms — meets the criteria, don’t you?

  • Camaraderie + Computech Posted on: Thursday, July 1st, 2010

    Whoever came up with the proverb – all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy – was clearly onto something… Here at Computech, we’re a hard working crew spread across several client sites and locations around the Washington DC area. But we don’t passively fall victim to the timeless adage above and call it a day. We do something about it!

    Come June of each year, Computech’s CEO J.D. Murphy, invites all staff to Lucky Strike, a hip, upscale bowling lounge with the following in mind: provide a fun environment to generate new relationships + solidify old, stir creativity, and show off bowling skills + hidden talents that may only come out of dormancy 1x/year. Lessons learned: 1). never judge a co-worker’s bowling skills before you actually see them and 2). some will always be all talk and no game.

    This past Tuesday we proved we could accomplish all three.  We mixed, mingled, ate, drank, and bowled countless ten-pin games, racking up a few scores of 300 errr 130?  Oh, and we had a few lucky strikes.

    Fact? Employee morale goes a long way.

    Since a picture is worth a thousand words, these will be most telling!

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