Merkato has many features that are controlled by desktop agents, and, in the case of the spot market, take effect at the beginning of the next auction. These include the following:
(1) Quantity available in the spot market (set via the seller valuation)
(2) Price floor in the spot market (set via the seller valuation)
(3) Quantity available in the Reservation market (controlled via a buy-back reservation agent controlled by the seller)
Items (1) and (2) are described fully in the seller valuation section of this manual. (See “Seller Valuation.”)
Item (3) is the reservation equivalent of a spot market buy-back agent. For example, suppose a seller has a maximum of 300 Mbps and would like to sell them on the Reservation market. Currently the seller wants to release only 100 Mbps. The seller could do so by using a reservation agent to reserve the additional 200 Mbps. Any time the seller wishes to release additional bandwidth to the Reservation market, the seller cancels the reservation. If required, the seller can use multiple reservation agents to release bandwidth to the market more gradually, depending on market conditions.