Impact created by Auctiometrix

Since the mid-1990s auctions have been used by governments around the world to allocate telecom frequencies. “Partly as a result of an inadequately thought-out auction design the outcomes of an auction can be significantly disappointing,” says Emiel Maasland, founder of the impact center Auctiometrix. Based on years of scientific research much insight has been gained into the operation and outcomes of various auction designs. Auctiometrix valorizes this scientific auction knowledge.

“Given the objectives of the government agencies we at Auctiometrix design the most appropriate auction based on game theoretical arguments, auction simulations and/or laboratory experiments (conducted in the economics laboratory of the Erasmus School of Economics). We advise not only on the auction design but also on the design details of the auction (such as the degree of transparency in the auction, reservation prices, activity rule, etc.) and on how the available spectrum can best be divided up,” says Emiel Maasland.

Auctiometrix is closely involved in the design and implementation of 5G telecom auctions. For example, in 2018, Auctiometrix assisted Finnish regulator TRAFICOM with the first 5G telecom auction in Europe. “This auction netted the Finnish government more than 77 million euros,” says Emiel Maasland.

In 2020, Auctiometrix also assisted TRAFICOM in the implementation of the 26 GHz spectrum auction. Auctiometrix has advised many other regulators on the 5G auction design such as ANACOM (Portugal) and NCC (Taiwan).