All Canadian major telecoms players, as well as smaller operators, will take part in the upcoming AWS-3 spectrum auction, which is due to start on 3 March.
Bidders include dominant operators BCE, Rogers and Telus alongside regional carriers Eastlink,…
All Canadian major telecoms players, as well as smaller operators, will take part in the upcoming AWS-3 spectrum auction, which is due to start on 3 March.
Bidders include dominant operators BCE, Rogers and Telus alongside regional carriers Eastlink, Manitoba Telecom Services, SaskTel, Quebecor’s Videotron, Tbaytel, Wind Mobile and bankrupt Mobilicity, according to Industry Canada’s website.
The Canadian government has reserved 60% of the spectrum available in the AWS-3 auction for smaller players and new entrants. The country’s fourth-largest carrier, Wind Mobile, and Mobilicity are the only two players that qualify to bid on those set-aside licences in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.
Last month, debt-ridden Mobilicity confirmed that it would take in part in the tender after securing the required financing to pay the C$62m (US$49.3m) bidding deposit.
Mobilicity and SaskTel will not take part in the country’s 2,500 MHz tender, which is scheduled for April and does not set aside spectrum for smaller players, while rural operators CCI Wireless, SSi, and Xplornet will participate, the business ministry said.
In the last few years, the government has tried to fuel competition in the country’s mobile market by challenging the dominance of the three main operators, which hold a combined 90% market share.
Critics of its fourth-carrier policy have argued that it puts off foreign investments.
