OTTAWA – Industry Canada has blocked a request by NextWave to transfer 83 spectrum licences to Rogers and Bell-owned Inukshuk, citing competitive concerns.
Industry Minister James Moore issued the decision Thursday, saying that after considering this request under the new spectrum licence transfer framework, Industry Canada determined that this licence transfer would “lead to unacceptable levels of concentration of spectrum in the hands of incumbent carriers that negatively affects competition in our wireless sector”.
“We will not approve any spectrum transfer request that results in excessive spectrum concentration for Canada's largest wireless companies, which negatively affects competition in the telecommunications sector”, he said in a statement. “As we set out in the Speech from the Throne and Economic Action Plan 2014, our government is committed to improving high-speed Internet access for Canadians in rural and northern communities, and we will continue to stand up for consumers first in our wireless sector."
Last October, Inukshuk Wireless Partnership, a partnership between Bell Canada and Rogers Communications, and NextWave submitted a joint application to Industry Canada seeking to transfer NextWave's 83 spectrum licences across Canada in the Wireless Communications Services (WCS) band to Inukshuk. WCS consists of 30 MHz of spectrum in the 2300 MHz band.
If approved, Bell and Rogers, through Inukshuk, would have increased their combined WCS spectrum holdings from 29% to 77%. Additionally, because there is only one paired block of WCS spectrum, only one licensee can hold a licence in a given geographic tier. As such, if this request was approved, 95% of the WCS spectrum would effectively be held by incumbents Bell, Rogers and Telus.
Industry Canada said that it reviews all commercial mobile spectrum transfer requests against the Framework to determine the ability of the applicants and existing and future competitors to provide services given the post-transfer concentration. Decisions on transfer requests are made on a case-by-case basis and are issued publicly to increase transparency.
