The Canadian government has blocked a request from Inukshuk, a joint venture owned by Rogers Communications and Bell Canada, to acquire 83 WCS spectrum licences from AT&T subsidiary NextWave.
In a statement industry minister James Moore said the…
The Canadian government has blocked a request from Inukshuk, a joint venture owned by Rogers Communications and Bell Canada, to acquire 83 WCS spectrum licences from AT&T subsidiary NextWave.
In a statement industry minister James Moore said the transfer “would lead to unacceptable levels of concentration of spectrum in the hands of incumbent carriers that negatively affects competition in our wireless sector”.
The deal was stopped under the Spectrum License Transfer Framework introduced last year in response to Telus’ C$380m offer for Mobilicity, which Industry Canada barred. The department now reviews every spectrum transfer and can block a transaction if it is worried about the competition implications.
In its rationale for blocking Inukshuk’s acquisition, Industry Canada said the WCS band – at 2.3 GHz – will increasingly be used for LTE and therefore the transaction would have increased Rogers’ and Bell’s combined WCS holdings from 29% to 77%.
Had the transfer been allowed, 95% of WCS spectrum would have been in the hands of the big three operators – Bell, Rogers and Telus – and this would be an anti-competitive move, the ministry added.
Inukshuk already holds 75% of the 3.5 GHz band and has faced criticism for not building out the spectrum. In November Moore said that there would be a crackdown on licence holders in the 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands which were hoarding frequencies.
Moore threatened to reclaim the spectrum, which was designed to be used for providing coverage to rural areas.
In today’s statement Moore said: “Our government is committed to improving high-speed internet access for Canadians in rural and northern communities, and we will continue to stand up for consumers first in our wireless sector.”
