Deny TerreStar ask for more spectrum, telecoms tell ISED

TerreStar Solutions Inc. is asking Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada to hand it more spectrum so it can effectively deploy its current AWS-4 holdings and begin work on a new national fixed wireless and satellite service, a request that some telecoms say would rob other players of an opportunity at the spectrum. “TerreStar wishes to underscore the importance of and, indeed, its urgent need for the spectrum requested in this application,” the company said in a February application. “There is a deficiency of useable spectrum available for the provision of fixed services in rural and remote Canada.” In the February application, it asked that ISED give it some additional spectrum licences in the 1695-1710 MHz frequency band along with the Personal Communications Services (PCS) Block H so it could combine them with AWS-4, effectively giving it a Tier 1 national licence for the combined spectrum. TerreStar has been in possession of the AWS-4 spectrum since April 2015, but has yet to deploy it. Its president and CEO Andre Tremblay confirmed in a phone interview that the company has yet to launch any services. ISED said in a consultation document in May that the requested spectrum is currently not licensed for mobile use in Canada and there is “no licensing process and no applicable fees for both bands.” The TerreStar application noted it follows the wireless standards body 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) approval last year of Band 70, which allows for the pairing of such spectrum for efficiency and improved services. The company said it wants to align itself with plans by Dish Network Corp., which is a minority shareholder in TerreStar and holds the corresponding spectrum in the United States. TerreStar noted in its application that aligning with the U.S. in such a way would alleviate cross-border coordination concerns with respect to such issues as device handset applicability. And while some intervenors responding to TerreStar’s application agreed that Canada should harmonized with the U.S. on the new band for those benefits, several telecoms also took issue with the suggestion that TerreStar would just be handed spectrum at no charge and with no indication of a competitive process. Interventions were released Friday. “The situation that causes to suggest that they are the only party to logically hold the requested spectrum in Canada is a situation entirely of the applicant’s own making and not a result foisted on them by the 3GPP or other third parties as their application implies,” Telus Corp. said in its submission. Telus added that it is interested “in the PCS-H block and the 1695-1710 MHz band and recommends ISED hold competitive licensing process relying on market forces, and an auction in particular,” adding Dish itself pursued spectrum at open auction in AWS-3 (paired and unpaired uplink) and PCS-H. Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. also said in its submission that TerreStar isn’t the only operator that could use the spectrum. “In fact, any mobile wireless service provider could in theory use the spectrum, particularly those operators with existing AWS-1 and AWS-3 spectrum holdings, both incumbent and new entrant competitors.” In its own intervention, Rogers Communications Inc. said “providing additional free commercial spectrum to TerreStar will confer a substantial subsidy at the expense of Canadian taxpayers and provides TerreStar with an unfair advantage over service providers that must pay for the use of their spectrum.” In response, Tremblay said in the interview that his company is prepared to pay all licensing fees for the spectrum. In its decision on mobile satellite services (MSS) and AWS-4 spectrum in 2014, Industry Canada (now ISED) said some of the licenses already held by TerreStar are required to be deployed to 30 per cent of the population of the Tier 1 licence area, including MSS service, by March 2020. As such, Telus took issue with TerreStar’s suggestion that it required the additional spectrum to fulfill its deployment requirements. The company said TerreStar doesn’t need more spectrum to deploy what it currently has, indicating that it could simply partner with a Band 66 licensee in Canada to do so. In its application, TerreStar noted that such arrangements with Canadian licensees "tend to be difficult to conclude” due to competitive reasons. Telus illustrated the value of spectrum by pointing to the premium Quebecor Inc. received when it recently transferred spectrum licences, suggesting the spectrum should be given to companies that are “actually motivated to deploy, rather than companies that seek to hold the spectrum mainly for potential resale.” Some telecoms also took issue with the urgency of TerreStar’s request. BCE Inc. noted that Dish itself has yet to successfully deploy any of its terrestrial spectrum, “nor has it made public concrete plans to do so.” The government should therefore “wait until the situation in the U.S. becomes more certain,” which would allow for the most efficient use of spectrum to be clarified. “Once the U.S. deployment becomes better understood, ISED could then hold further consultations, and possibly an auction, to determine the level of interest of, and value of the spectrum to, other industry players in Canada,” Bell added. But in supporting TerreStar, Xplornet Communications Inc. said the application “presents the opportunity to unlock spectrum for one purpose in urban areas and another use in rural and remote areas to best address the needs of Canadians,” adding it would go toward furthering the government’s agenda on improving broadband and wireless services for rural and remote Canadians. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Deny TerreStar ask for more spectrum, telecoms tell ISED

News | 07/26/2017 3:17 pm EDT

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