Canadian wireless incumbent Rogers Communications has struck an agreement to acquire spectrum belonging to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron as part of a wider LTE network sharing pact.
Under the terms of the deal, Videotron will have the option to sell its…
Canadian wireless incumbent Rogers Communications has struck an agreement to acquire spectrum belonging to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron as part of a wider LTE network sharing pact.
Under the terms of the deal, Videotron will have the option to sell its unused AWS spectrum in Toronto to Rogers for C$180m (US$175m) from 1 January 2014.
“Data usage is exploding and customers want to continue to enjoy the fastest possible speeds and throughput. Our plan is to put this unused spectrum to use to meet this demand, especially in a dense urban area, like Toronto,” said Rogers CEO Nadir Mohamed.
Videotron acquired the AWS airwaves in 2008. The terms of that auction dictated that acquirers of set-aside spectrum – not available to incumbents – were not allowed to sell the frequencies until 2014. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval from the government.
Rogers has been waiting on the authorities to approve its proposed acquisition of spectrum from cable and DTH operator Shaw Communications since January.
In the meantime, fellow incumbent Telus has also agreed to buy challenger operator Mobilicity, primarily for its spectrum, which Ottawa is also yet to rule on.
After committing to engineer a viable fourth player in Canada’s wireless market, the government is not expected to be keen on seeing anymore spectrum fall into the hands of the three incumbent operators.
The country’s business department, Industry Canada, is currently reviewing how to stoke more competition in the wireless sector. It is possible that it may block the transfer of spectrum from smaller players to incumbents.