Auction Day 22: Bragg pulls back; Globalive still very much alive

The prospect of long and expensive battles with incumbent telcos and Globalive Communications appears to have been too much for Bragg Communications. Today's bidding saw a significant shift in the company's strategy for Atlantic Canada.In Round 126, Bragg withdrew all its bids on the set-aside 10 MHz tier three D-band licences in Atlantic Canada only two days after cutting its losses on a number of bids on the non-reserved bandwidth in the eastern part of the country as well as three properties in Ontario. Round 109 saw the EastLink owner pull out of bids on several 20 MHz A-band and F-band licences.The withdrawal from the D-band properties allowed Globalive to swoop in and gain standing high bidder status on those properties. But the move also gave Bragg the ability to take control of the tier two B-band and C-band reserved spectrum licences covering all of Atlantic Canada.EastLink's decision to back away from the 20 MHz licences in Atlantic Canada has enabled it to play more aggressively for some of the 10 MHz E-band licences in the East. Bragg continues to control and fight for a number of properties outside of Atlantic Canada, including 20 MHz A-band licences in Guelph/Kitchener and London/Woodstock/St. Thomas, as well as D-band properties in Strathroy, North Bay, Sudbury and Kirkland Lake.Globalive shows no signs of slowing downThe Yak Communications parent company continues to wage an aggressive war with both incumbent wireless operators and new entrant wannabes, alike. In the early part of Wednesday, Globalive placed 11 new bids in two consecutive rounds as it tried to fill out its portfolio of spectrum licences. At the end of Round 133, it had committed $432 million for 27 properties.Things may not be that rosy for Globalive, though. If the auction were to end at Round 133, the company would primarily have 10 MHz across all of its licensed areas. There would be a couple of exceptions: it has a 20 MHz licence covering southern Ontario, an additional 20 MHz licence in Sudbury to go with its 10 MHz northern Ontario licence, and then a 20 MHz licence for western New Brunswick to combine with its 10 MHz of bandwidth across all of Atlantic Canada.Some have proclaimed Globalive as the next great national wireless hope for Canada, Report on Wireless begs to differ (below is a list of standing high bids at the end of Round 133). The Yak owner will not win enough licences to become a national wireless operator and benefit from the 10-year roaming agreements. Globalive will get enough licences to have a near national network, but close doesn't count, or at least it shouldn't.If successful in the AWS auction, Globalive will be able to leverage its popular brand and compelling long distance services into the wireless arena. With 20 MHz in southern Ontario and a bunch of 10 MHz licences to go along with that, the company could have enough bandwidth to serve Ontario. But the big question that remains is whether 10 MHz is enough to serve customers in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and the other markets in the West and Atlantic Canada?Round 133 Globalive Standing High Bids by GeographyYukon/Northwest Territories/Nunavut - 30 MHzBritish Columbia - 10 MHzAlberta - 10 MHzSaskatchewan - 10 MHzWinnipeg - 10 MHzBrandon - 10 MHzNorthern Ontario - 10 MHz (Sudbury - an additional 20 MHz) Peterborough - 10 MHzCobourg - 10 MHzBelleville - 10 MHzKingston - 10 MHzBrockville - 10 MHzPembroke - 10 MHzUpper Outaouais - 10 MHz West New Brunswick - 10 MHzEast New Brunswick - 10 MHzSouth New Brunswick - 10 MHzNova Scotia Mainland - 10 MHzCape Breton - 10 MHzPrince Edward Island - 10 MHzNewfoundland and Labrador - 10 MHz

Auction Day 22: Bragg pulls back; Globalive still very much alive

News | 06/26/2008 12:08 pm EDT

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