Auction Day 19: Globalive pushes auction windfall to $4 billion brink

Globalive Communications’ aggressive bid to become a near national competitor is pushing airwave licences to record highs in what has turned into Canada’s most expensive spectrum auction.At the end of Round 105, the Yak Communications owner had committed $457 million for 30 licences. And while the company has held several properties for many rounds (meaning Globalive is unlikely to face a bidding war for these licences), Globalive continues to raise the stakes on other licences, and the stakes are getting quite high.Globalive succeeded in forcing MTS Allstream to back away from the D-band tier 3 10 MHz licences for Winnipeg and Manitoba a few days ago after those properties reached high valuations compared to other regions of similar size. MTS now holds only 20 MHz of spectrum in the core mobile bands.But Globalive’s fight with MTS is only one example. The Yak operator has been seesawing control over a number of licences for the past couple of days with both incumbent and new entrant wannabes alike. It has been battling SaskTel for control of Saskatchewan, going head-to-head with the provincial Crown corp on both the 10 MHz provincial licence and the D-band licences for Regina, Moose Jaw and Saskatoon. An analysis of the company’s bidding in the last 20 rounds shows that Globalive is looking to acquire spectrum at the expense of the incumbent wireless carriers instead trying to take spectrum from the other new entrants. The list below – a collection of the bids placed in five separate rounds over the past two days – demonstrates this trend. The bands B, C and D are the set aside licences, while A, E and F are the open spectrum licence. Bids on reserved spectrum are highlighted in bold.Eliminate the bids placed on Saskatchewan licences, and Globalive bid on only four properties in the reserved bands, while the remaining bids in the five rounds analyzed were placed on non-set aside spectrum.Bidding activity in general has generated some criticism from the incumbent wireless operators. They noted at the Canadian Telecom Summit last week in Toronto that the values of the licences should serve as evidence that new entrants were, and are, well-equipped financially to bid in an open auction against existing players without the help of Industry Canada.As the AWS auction closes in on four weeks, there are signs it could end with one-on-one licence battles this week. Friday started out with 50 new bids and 42 new high bids, but as the day wore on, the ratio of new bids to new high bids started to decrease. Round 105, the last on Friday, saw 53 new bids and 51 new high bids.The emergence of two-party battles for licences is a sign that the auction is getting close to ending. But how close remains to be seen.Globalive Bidding Analysis Days 18 and 19Round 92316e-Pembroke – previous high bidder was 768812 Ontario Inc. 318e-Cornwall – previous high bidder was Telus 319e-Brockville – previous high bidder was Telus320e- Kingston – previous high bidder was Telus 321e-Bellevillev – previous high bidder was Telus 322d-Cobourge – previous high bidder was Rich Telecom322e-Cobourg – previous high bidder was Telus323e-Peterborough – previous high bidder was Telus341d-Regina – previous high bidder was SaskTel342d-Moose Jaw – previous high bidder was SaskTel343d- Saskatoon – previous high bidder was SaskTelRound 94308a-Gaspésie – previous high bidder was Rogers 309a-Québec – previous high bidder was Rogers (Bell named standing high bidder)310a-Chicoutimi – previous high bidder was Rogers (Vidéotron named standing high bidder)317a-Abitibi – previous high bidder was Bell (Rogers named standing high bidder)318d-Cornwall – previous high bidder was Rich Telecom321d-Belleville – previous high bidder was Celluworld322d-Cobourg – previous high bidder was Rich Telecom (jump bid by Rich)323e-Peterborough – previous high bidder was Telus341d-Regina – previous high bidder was SaskTel342d-Moose Jaw – previous high bidder was SaskTel343d-Saskatoon – previous high bidder was SaskTel355e-Courtenay – previous high bidder was Bell Round 98304e-Cape Breton – previous high bidder was Telus310e-Chicioutim – previous high bidder was Rogers317f-Abitibi – previous high bidder was Telus (Rogers named standing high bidder)318d-Cornwall – previous high bidder was Rich Telecom323d-Peterborough – previous high bidder was Celluworld335a-Sault Ste. Marie – previous high bidder was Rogers341d-Regina – previous high bidder was SaskTel342d- Moose Jaw – previous high bidder was SaskTel342f-Moose Jaw – previous high bidder was Rogers343d-Saskatoon – previous high bidder was SaskTel348e-Red Deer – previous high bidder was Rogers350e-Kootenays – previous high bidder was Bell Round 102211c-Saskatchewan – previous high bidder was SaskTel308a-Gaspésie – previous high bidder was Rogers309a-Québec – previous high bidder was Rogers318e-Cornwall – previous high bidder was Telus319e-Brockville – previous high bidder was Telus320e-Kingston – previous high bidder was Telus321e-Belleville – previous high bidder was Telus323e-Peterborough – previous high bidder was Telus341d-Regina – previous high bidder was SaskTel342d-Moose Jaw – previous high bidder was SaskTel343d-Saskatoon – previous high bidder was SaskTel355e-Courtenay – previous high bidder was Bell356e-Thompson – previous high bidder was Bell Round 104 308a-Gaspésie – previous high bidder was Rogers309f-Québec – previous high bidder was Telus (Vidéotron named standing high bidder)310a-Chicoutimi – previous high bidder was Rogers311a-Eastern Townships – previous high bidder was Rogers341e-Regina – previous high bidder was Shaw 342e-Moose Jaw – previous high bidder was Shaw 343e-Saskatoon – previous high bidder was Shaw 345e- Medicine Hat – previous high bidder was Bell 348e- Red Deer – previous high bidder was Bell

Auction Day 19: Globalive pushes auction windfall to $4 billion brink

News | 06/23/2008 6:19 pm EDT

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