Canada’s spectrum policies not well suited for rural/remote wireless services

Two small upstart wireless operators are telling Industry Canada that it has to fix its spectrum policies to better serve rural and remote residents. They say that the department’s one-size-fits-all policies that have worked in the densely populated regions of the country haven’t been successful in the north and that it should develop policies specifically for unserved/underserved regions. First Networks Operations Inc. and Lynx Mobility take aim at Industry Canada’s rules on licence transfers, subordinating licensing and its New Party Cellular policy (RP-019), criticizing the policies as inadequate, archaic and suffering from numerous problems. The companies say that while it may appear these rules give smaller companies the ability to offer service in areas where the incumbent licence holder doesn’t plan to, this isn’t the case. The comments come as Industry Canada is consulting on the renewal of cellular and PCS licences. First Networks points to underlying flaw of these rules: incumbents control the licences. “The incumbent as spectrum owner has effective control over the entrants expansion plans if it is successful. It can also build commercially restrictive covenants into the agreements for spectrum and the other services for which the entrant depends on the incumbent. The entrant must accept the conditions demanded by the incumbent or risk being denied access to spectrum,” First Networks tells Industry Canada. Lynx Mobility says that the government’s new cellular policy is archaic “sorely in need of updating.” The company says that the policy’s biggest problems are that it only covers cellular spectrum, applicants have to apply for each community rather than a wider area, negotiations with existing licensees are cumbersome and it’s fraught with delays. Both companies take issue with Industry Canada’s assessment of the wireless market in Canada. While they acknowledge that mobile services are readily available in “southern Canada”, they aren’t in northern parts of the country. Lynx Mobility, which is a partnership between Omniglobe Networks and Naskapi Imuun, highlights the degree to which the incumbent wireless operators aren’t using their spectrum in the North. It notes that of the 132 licence areas in the North, only 37 areas have service. In concedes that there are pockets of service in the some of the non-served areas, but adds the majority of communities are still without service. Lynx, which launched service in the Kawawachikamach/Schefferville and Kuujjuarapik/Whapmagoostui regions earlier this year, has a solution for the unserved/underserved northern regions. The company suggests that the department should take back licences in areas where the incumbent provider hasn’t rolled out a network. “Where an incumbent has failed to use a licensed spectrum block (i.e., any one of the two Cellular Blocks3 or 10 PCS Blocks4) in any one of the Tier 4 Areas, Industry Canada should reclaim the spectrum within that area and make it available to other parties on a First Come First Serve (FCFS) basis,” reads its submission. “In other words, we propose that the Tier 4 area be carved out of the incumbent’s Tier 2 Regional or Tier 1 National Service Area licence for re‐issuance to other parties.” First Networks says the department can remedy the current situation by “decoupling” cellular and PCS spectrum owned by the incumbents that isn’t being used from spectrum that is being used. “Areas where they have not built network at the time of the licence renewal should be treated as part of a new a Rural/Remote and Unserved/Underserved Licence Policy,” reads First Networks submission. “This would effectively remove unused spectrum from control of the incumbent and place it in the hands of the department to promote the provision of wireless service in unserved and underserved areas.” The large national wireless operators are opposed the new cellular policy and have long told Industry Canada to kill RP-019. Telus Mobility says the ever-expanding reach of wireless networks renders this policy outdated, while Rogers Wireless says the policy has only led to “frivolous requests” for the spectrum that haven’t expanded the reach of mobile networks in underserved areas.

Canada’s spectrum policies not well suited for rural/remote wireless services

News | June 8, 2009

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