The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of Canada's 700 MHz spectrum auction, which took place at the beginning of 2014. The auction format adopted by the Canadian regulator was the Combinatorial Clock Auction (CCA). In Section 1, we review the band plan for Canada's 700 MHz spectrum auction. We discuss the reasons and benefits from the band plan that Industry Canada applied. Section 2 presents the background information about selected, qualified bidders in this auction. Further in Section 3 the main stage of the auction, the Clock Rounds, is described; two conditions designed to induce bidders to truthfully reveal their preferences are explained as their understanding is key to understanding the novelties of the CCA; in this section results from the Canadian auction are presented. In Section 4 we analyse the Clock Rounds stage in search for behavioural patterns observed from the auction history and data that can help us characterise the bidding strategies employed in the auction.

Industry Canada, the authority charged with radio spectrum allocation and assignment in Canada, administered a Combinatorial Clock Auction in 2013 whereby a sizable number of spectrum licenses were awarded to a handful of telecommunications operators to provide 4G cellular service throughout the Canadian provinces. The auction consisted of two main stages: the Allocation stage and the Assignment stage; in turn the allocation stage was further divided in two: the Clock Rounds and the Supplementary Round. The 700 MHz auction in 2014 was organised in 56 products which corresponded to 14 geographical areas with 4 sets of bands in each area (three bands with two blocks each, known as generic, and one band with a single paired block) and had all bidders bidding during the Clock rounds and in the Supplementary round. In the Assignment stage only those bidders who won generic licences in the Allocation stage got to bid on specific targeted licenses. This paper analyses the results from Canada's 700 MHz auction in an attempt to unlock main aspects of bidders' strategic bidding. It uses publicly available data posted by Industry Canada which follow every bidder's demand history throughout the auction represented by the round-to-round demanded bundles and the aggregate amount bid on for each bundle.