Wind calls for separate consultation on set-asides

Wind Mobile is urging Industry Canada to hold another round of consultations on the 700 MHz band to address whether the department should set aside spectrum blocks for small players in the next wireless auction. Speaking as a part of a telecom regulatory panel at the Scotia Capital Telecom and Tech Conference in Toronto Tuesday, Simon Lockie, Wind’s chief regulatory officer, said the department did not get all the facts supporting set-asides during its consultations that ran from December 2010 to April 2011. “I’m actually not of the view that the consultation that was done previously really successfully teased out all of the issues at the right time,” Lockie said. “It’s not like people were keeping cards in their deck, but starting to come to light.” Lockie said American operator AT&T Mobile Inc.’s deal to purchase T-Mobile USA placed unforeseen pressures on Canadian new entrants and created new arguments as to why set-asides in the upcoming auction are important to long-term competition in Canada. He said AT&T’s intentions to repurpose T-Mobile’s advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum for 4G long-term evolution (LTE) has created “significant hand-set issues” for Canadian wireless operators using AWS technology because handset manufacturers have begun scaling back the number of devices compatible with AWS. Wind and new entrants Mobilicity and Quebecor Media Inc.’s Videotron Ltée. also use AWS spectrum for wireless services in Canada. Incumbents Telus Corp., BCE Inc., and Rogers Communications Inc. are operating HSPA (and moving to LTE) networks, largely using the 800 MHz band. Industry Canada’s 2008 AWS spectrum auction set aside blocks of spectrum for purchase by new entrants to ensure they could enter the market. Lockie said new entrants need the ability to expand beyond their AWS spectrum in order to add new devices to their lineups. He said it is difficult for smaller telcos like Wind to secure the capital necessary to invest in new spectrum if potential investors believe they are going up against deep-pocketed incumbents. Industry Canada is expected to release a policy framework for the next spectrum auction before the end of the year, which would include a decision on set-asides. Lockie said Industry Canada should hold another brief round of consultations on spectrum set-asides before that policy is released. The consultation should also discuss spectrum caps, he suggested, which would limit the amount of spectrum one company can buy up during the auction. Incumbents Bell, Rogers and Telus are lobbying strongly against set-asides for the auction, arguing that national carriers need access to enough 700 MHz spectrum to roll out fourth-generation LTE, which they say is part of an effort to close the rural-urban digital divide. During the regulatory panel Tuesday, Mirko Bibic, Bell’s senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs, called on the CRTC to fix aspects of its new code of conduct policy for vertically integrated broadcast carriers. Bibic took issue with a section of the code that requires vertically integrated companies (those with broadcast as well as broadcast distribution assets) to offer carriage to similar competing channels when offering TV service packages that include their own affiliated channels. “There’s this code of conduct, which I personally think is the silliest thing ever. It’s poorly thought out,” Bibic said. “If Bell TV takes TSN and puts it in a theme pack with one or two other sports services, because it’s got its own service in that theme pack, we’ve got to include every single sports service that exists in Canada.” The measure means extra costs for consumers looking to acquire Bell’s sports package because they will be required to pay for all the channels, Bibic said. Carriers that are not vertically integrated can offer packages that include TSN (owned by Bell) but are not required to include all the other channels, he said. “How does that make any sense? How is that pro-consumer?” Bibic said. The issue is likely be resolved through commission consultations, he said. The CRTC says its new rules are necessary to protect consumers and small channels and distributors in a broadcasting landscape dominated by large, vertically integrated companies that control distribution on multiple platforms. nkyonka@thewirereport.ca

Wind calls for separate consultation on set-asides

News | November 9, 2011

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