Industry Canada never intended incumbents to get set aside spectrum: Paradis

The federal Industry Department did not intend for incumbent telecom carriers to have access to wireless spectrum that was reserved for new entrants in the 2008 spectrum auction, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said. National wireless incumbents BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. could acquire spectrum reserved for new entrants as Shaw Communications Inc. seeks to sell its “new entrant” wireless licences to Rogers and as other incumbents look at buying new entrant wireless companies. The Globe and Mail reported last week that Telus is in talks with new entrant DAVE Wireless Inc., which operates as Mobilicity, and that Public Mobile Inc. hired an investment bank for a possible sale. Wind Mobile, owned by VimpelCom Ltd., is also accepting offers. All three of those new entrant wireless companies entered the Canadian wireless market through the licence of spectrum reserved for small players in 2008. Shaw also purchased the new entrant spectrum. “The intent of the policy was not to have this set aside spectrum to end in the hands of the incumbents,” Paradis said, referring to the reserved spectrum, which came with a five-year moratorium on transferring or selling it to incumbent carriers. The minister made the comments Monday from Hong Kong on a conference call with journalists. He was in Tokyo and Hong Kong from April 10-16 to promote trade and investment. Paradis said the rules for the 2008 auction, the 700 MHz auction coming up in November, and Industry Canada's consultation on new guidelines for the transfer of spectrum assets, will help the government achieve its objective of ensuring a fourth wireless competitor in each operating territory in Canada. “Consolidation might occur. On the other hand I think we put the best policies in place in order to enhance and the fact that we can have a fourth player in terms of competition and more investment,” Paradis said. “I think we are on the right track in terms of policy. Of course, it's a work in progress. We will see what's going on. I still remain confident we will achieve our goal,” he said. Paradis did not say how Industry Canada's consultation on spectrum transfer rules may affect the sale of a new entrant to an incumbent. “After these consultations, we will set up criteria, and once the criteria are done, each transfer will have to be compliant with the final criteria,” he said. Industry Canada told The Wire Report in March that, following the May 3 deadline for final comments on the spectrum transfer rules, the "government intends to finalize the approach shortly thereafter.” The department has proposed more detailed reviews for spectrum transfers affecting competition. The Globe and Mail reported Saturday that private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group Inc., which is in a legal fight over its financing for Mobilicity, has stepped in with an offer for Wind Mobile. In March, The Wire Report reported that Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. is another bidder for Wind. The Globe, citing anonymous sources, said in its report Saturday that Fairfax has now “decided against” a bid for Wind Mobile. Accelero Capital, a Paris-based investment firm owned by former Wind Mobile investor Naguib Sawiris, is the only foreign bidder so far for Wind Mobile, and has partnered on the offer with Anthony Lacavera, Wind’s founder and outgoing chairman, The Wire Report reported in March. Industry Minister Paradis is trying to encourage more foreign investment in Canada's communications and information technologies industry, including the wireless sector. In February, at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain, he met with companies to call for more foreign investment in Canada’s telecom sector. “We are a trading nation, and we are open for business,” Paradis said in a speech in Hong Kong Monday at an event called the Canada-Hong Kong ICT Business Community Joint Luncheon, according to his speaking notes. “We're home to BlackBerry, which brought the world the revolutionary BlackBerry 10 mobile platform. And OpenText, which booked more than a billion dollars in revenue last year with its information management software for large corporations,” Paradis said. He said the Conservative government wants to deepen trade and economic cooperation with Japan and Hong Kong. “Canada has a quarter of North America's fastest growing wireless companies. And we have a first-class ICT infrastructure and six ICT regional clusters with easy access to the U.S. and global markets,” the minister said. —With reporting by Simon Doyle at sdoyle@thewirereport.ca and copy editing by Nicholas Kyonka at nkyonka@thewirereport.ca --- CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Paradis' conference call took place Friday. It happened Monday morning.

Industry Canada never intended incumbents to get set aside spectrum: Paradis

News | April 15, 2013

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Industry Canada never intended incumbents to get set aside spectrum: Paradis

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