Auction Day 29: Four licences hold up auction end, more competitors coming

What do the set-aside licences in Far North, Pembroke ON, Chatham ON and Red Deer AB have in common? They are the four licences preventing the auction from coming to an end.At the end of Round 205, SaskTel and Globalive Communications continued to battle for the rights to 20 MHz of spectrum (the B-band) covering Canada's Far North - the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Since Friday, control for the property has seesawed between the two companies after Globalive appeared to be ready to land the licence since bidding on it about three weeks ago.The Pembroke property was sought by Vidéotron as well as Globalive early in the auction. The two companies exchanged standing high bids for a number of rounds with the Yak Communications owner gaining control in Round 74. Celluworld started bidding on the licence about a week ago and the rights to Pembroke jockeying between the two companies ever since.Canquest has targeted the Chatham licence since the outset of the auction, battling both Bragg Communications and Globalive at certain points in the early rounds of the auction. The contest began to heat up on Monday when Globalive re-entered the fray. After going toe-to-toe for most of the day, Canquest placed a bid on the 10 MHz E-band licence in Chatham, upping Bell Mobility, the previous standing high bidder.The reserved spectrum in Red Deer was a Shaw Communications property at the beginning of the auction, but then Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless (DAVE) decided it wanted a piece of the Alberta wireless landscape. Shaw and DAVE exchanged bids for a number of rounds (76 to 81) with Dave ultimately gaining control until Friday when Rich Telecom Corp. bid on the property in Round 191. Rich and DAVE continue to swap standing high bids.Bidding on these four licences will continue Tuesday, but with only these four licences in play Industry Canada's Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum auction shouldn't last too much longer.New wireless competitive landscape emergesSave for a few minor properties, the auction is all but over, and with that comes the potential of a new slate of competitors to the Canadian wireless market. Some markets, however, might get more competitors than others.For example in Quebec, Vidéotron was successful in outbidding all contenders for prime spectrum. Only 6934579 Canada Inc. was able to acquire 10 MHz of bandwidth in the PCS Extension Bands covering the eastern and southern regions of the province as well as the Outaouais. The likes of Globalive and DAVE were shut out in their bid to acquire prime spectrum real estate in Quebec. Does that mean the Quebec cable, telephony and Internet company won't need to be as competitive? Unlikely, given its recent history in the telephony market.What is clear from the auction is that each region of the country could see at least two new competitors, and in parts of Ontario, four new competitors could emerge to compete against each other and the Big Three incumbent wireless operators. Below is a list of new players by region if the auction were to end today. Atlantic CanadaBragg Communications - 30 MHz covering the entire territory; 50 MHz in PEI and 70 MHz in Cape BretonGlobalive Communications - 10 MHz covering the entire territoryBlue Canada Wireless - 10 MHz in Newfoundland and Labrador (PCS Extension Bands)QuebecVidéotron - 40 MHz covering the entire province (60 MHz in some localized regions) 6934579 Canada Inc. - 10 MHz covering eastern and southern Quebec and the Outaouais (PCS Extension Bands)OntarioGlobalive Communications - 20 MHz in most of the province with 30 MHz in some locationsBragg Communications - 20 MHz across of all of northern Ontario and 30 MHz in some localized regions as well as 10 MHz in parts of southern OntarioDAVE - 10 MHz in southern Ontario with 20 MHz in some locations and 10 MHz eastern Ontario6934579 Canada Inc. - 10 MHz covering southern Ontario (PCS Extension Bands)Manitoba/Saskatchewan (doesn't include licences held by MTS and SaskTel)Globalive Communications - 10 MHz covering both provincesShaw Communications - 20 MHz covering both provincesAlbertaShaw Communications - 20 MHz covering the entire province with 30 MHz in localized regionsDAVE - 10 MHz in Edmonton and Calgary (still battling Rich Telecom for 10 MHz in Red Deer)Bragg Communications - 10 MHz in Grande PrairieGlobalive Communications - 10 MHz covering the entire provinceNovus Wireless - 10 MHz province-wide (PCS Extension Bands)British ColumbiaShaw Communications - 20 MHz covering the entire province 30 MHz in localized regionsGlobalive Communications - 10 MHz covering the entire provinceDAVE - 10 MHz in Vancouver and VictoriaSaskTel - 20 MHz in Okanagan/ColumbiaNovus Wireless - 10 MHz province-wide (PCS Extension Bands)

Auction Day 29: Four licences hold up auction end, more competitors coming

News | 07/08/2008 1:36 pm EDT

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