Switching it up: a closer look at bidding patterns in the US 3.45 GHz auction

The recent US 3.45 GHz auction shows interesting bidding patterns that can have implications for auction design. The auction sold 100MHz as 4060 unique licenses across partial economic areas. The clock phase of the auction concluded on 16 November after, 151 rounds of bidding.

We have identified an interesting bidding pattern in round 37 – a sudden substantial shift of demand into smaller markets. We present three possible explanations for what happened:

• Honest bidding in the form of switching
• Strategic bidding in the form of signalling
• Strategic bidding in the form of parking

Learn more about each of the explanations and their implications for auction design below or click on the following link to access a downloadable copy.