Canada’s Wind Mobile was celebrating on Friday after the operator won LTE frequencies in the government’s AWS-3 auction.
Incumbent Bell Mobility, Eastlink, Telus, and Videotron also all won licences in a process that raised C$2.1 billion for the government. One of Canada’s biggest telcos, Rogers Communications, failed to win any spectrum at all.
50 MHz of spectrum in the 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz bands was on the block, 30 MHz of which was reserved for smaller competitors to Canada’s three big hitters, Bell, Rogers, and Telus.
"Spectrum is a vital public resource and it is the government’s responsibility to allocate it in a way that encourages robust competition and choice in the wireless market," said James Moore, ministry of industry at Industry Canada, in a statement. "The result of the AWS-3 auction supports our government’s policies of delivering more choice, lower prices and better service on the latest technologies."
Wind bagged reserved spectrum in three service areas – Southern Ontario, Alberta and British Colombia – paying C$56.4 milli on for airwaves covering a population of 18 million.
"I am so proud of the competition and true choice we bring to Canadians," tweeted Wind Mobile CEO Tony Lacavera. "Next up: Wind LTE services roll out."
Videotron and Eastlink each won four licences, paying C$31.8 million and C$10 million respectively.
Despite the positive spin put on the result by Industry Canada, the auction results speak for themselves when it comes to the relative financial clout of the country’s biggest mobile operators.
Bell snapped up 13 licences covering 13.5 million people for C$500 million, while Telus paid C$1.5 billion for frequencies within reach of 30.1 million people.
In addition, it was reported that floundering operator Mobilicity withdrew from the auction at the last moment.
The company, which is under court protection from creditors, had hoped to participate, and was able to secure the C$62 million refundable deposit it needed in order to take part.
Mobilicity’s name did indeed appear on Industry Canada’s list of applicants under its former name, Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless, but it was conspicuous by its absence from the list of winning bidders.
According to the Financial Post, Mobilicity got court approval to receive C$200 million from one of its creditors to participate in the auction, mere hours before the bid deadline.
However, just minutes before the deadline, the funds were withheld for as yet undisclosed reasons, leaving Mobilicity without the money to bid for spectrum and secure its future in Canada’s mobile market.
Canada is due to auction 2.5-GHz spectrum in mid-April, but Mobilicity has already opted not to take part. It is also too late for it to reverse that decision – the application deadline was 30 January.
