SPECTRUM: Proposed licence transfer terrible for competition, say incumbents and newcomers

By Perry Hoffman

OTTAWA - Competition in Canada’s wireless industry could be hampered by more stringent spectrum licence transfer regulation, new entrants and incumbents alike are telling Industry Canada. Rogers Communications warns the department that its proposal will lead to an inefficient market where the existing secondary trading market for spectrum licences will become limited as some operators will see their options to sell spectrum holdings constrained. These new rules could “dampen new entry by increasing the risks associated with selling their business to the highest bidder if they fail to establish a viable wireless business” and “possibly result in lawsuits by aggrieved...