Spectrum auction brings in $5.27 billion
Quebecor Inc. able to expand services in other parts of Canada
OTTAWA — The federal government will pocket $5.27 billion from its latest auction of wireless spectrum, enabling Quebec’s largest provider to get a foothold in Western Canada in the process.
Quebecor Inc., owners of the Videotron wireless unit, will be able to expand its service in southern Ontario and add customers in B.C. and Alberta.
Canada’s Big Three national carriers — Bell Inc., Rogers Communications and Telus Corp. — added to their total footprint in all provinces and territories.
Eastlink has service in the Maritimes, and with the auction it will add customers in the North as well.
“Our wireless policy is designed to benefit Canadian consumer, first and foremost,” Industry Minister James Moore said.
“With this auction our policy has achieved its goal,” he said in a much-anticipated announcement in Ottawa.
This was only the second govern ment spectrum auction in just over five years. There were eight successful buyers out of a possible 10 in the latest auction — for the much-coveted 700-megahertz (MHz) frequency band — after Globalive Wireless Management Corp, which operates Wind Mobile, abruptly dropped out of the running due to a lack of funding. Other smaller groups — and possible bidders — faced financial problems, with Public Mobile being sold to Telus and Mobilicity forced into court protection from its creditors.
Last summer, U.S. giant Verizon Communications Inc. looked set to enter the Canadian market, but later denied that was its intention, at least not yet.
Winners of the auction — a process that began Jan. 14 — have 10 days to post 20 per cent of their bid, with the balance to be paid within 30 days.
The 700-MHz spectrum is seen as the prized radiowave possession among providers. Already in use in the United States by Verizon and AT & T, the spectrum was originally used to carry analogue TV signals and is able to penetrate large office buildings.