Government of Canada announces spectrum auction rules

Canadians rely more than ever on wireless services for work, school, finances and health care, making access to high-quality and affordable services essential. That is why the Government of Canada is making spectrum available to encourage competition in the wireless services market, improve rural connectivity and ensure the effective deployment of 5G technologies.

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced a decision on the 3800 MHz spectrum auction rules. These rules ensure that it will be possible to support higher quality and more affordable wireless services. They include measures proven to help promote competition and the fast deployment of services, such as:

• imposing a 100 MHz cap on the large national providers as to how much combined 3500 MHz and 3800 MHz spectrum they can acquire;
• reserving a total of 150 MHz across the 3500 MHz and 3800 MHz spectrum bands for smaller competitors; and
• implementing strong deployment requirements ensuring companies must “use or lose” the spectrum they win.

Building on the success of similar measures for the recently auctioned 3500 MHz spectrum band, these rules will help to ensure Canadians—no matter where they live—will benefit from telecom services that are reliable, innovative, competitive and affordable. Yahoo! Finance