Canada’s Federal Industry Minister has reiterated his satisfaction with the controversial terms of next year’s 700MHz spectrum auction, ahead of the 25 June deadline for operators to file comments on the rules of the tender.
Wind Mobile, which is…
Canada’s Federal Industry Minister has reiterated his satisfaction with the controversial terms of next year’s 700MHz spectrum auction, ahead of the 25 June deadline for operators to file comments on the rules of the tender.
Wind Mobile, which is part of Globalive, argues that the conditions of the spectrum auction will further entrench the dominance of Canada’s incumbent big three: BCE, Rogers Communications and Telus.
However, minister Christian Paradis, speaking at the Canadian Telecom Summit, said he was happy with the structure of the auction, according to the Financial Post. He said the same format would be used in 2014 when 2500MHz band will be put to tender and ruled out making the major changes some operators want.
On the face of it the rules seem to benefit challenger carriers. There will be four spectrum licences to bid for in 14 jurisdictions in Canada, and incumbents will only be allowed to purchase one licence in each jurisdiction. New entrants are allowed to purchase two.
However Wind, which entered the market after acquiring spectrum at the last auction in 2008, has vehemently protested against the rules. It has argued that it will effectively only be allowed to purchase 10MHz per region, which equates to one licence per jurisdiction, arguing incumbents would have incentives to pay more than the market value to keep Wind out.
Wind has said it needs to acquire 20MHz per jurisdiction to roll out LTE, double the amount it believes it will be able to purchase. Otherwise it will not be able to compete with the big three who are already spectrum-rich and deploying LTE networks, Wind claims.
In the 2008 auction some spectrum was set aside for new entrants to spur greater competition and create lower prices for consumers, and Wind calls for similar terms to be used again.
In light of the insistence of the industry minister that the rules of the tender will not be changed, Wind is now exploring strategic partnerships. Wind CEO Anthony Lacavera called on new entrants to seek partnerships if it is not possible for them to acquire sufficient spectrum in the upcoming auction.
