Rogers spends $1.72B in hard-fought auction for wireless spectrum licenses - Global News

Rogers Communications will spend $1.72 billion to acquire spectrum licences from the federal government, making it by far the biggest spender in a hard-fought auction that pitted Canada’s wireless companies against each other.The Canadian treasury will get a total of nearly $3.47 billion from auctioning 104 licences to Canada’s wireless networks, which are racing to get ready for fifth-generation technology that will roll out over a decade or so.Story continues belowThis year’s auction was for the 600 megahertz band of frequencies, which can cover large areas and easily penetrating buildings.Next year’s auction will be for 3,500 MHz licences, which are even more valuable because they’re more widely used in fifth-generation networks around the world.READ MORE: With 5G, data could reach you in as little as a millisecond, 50 times faster than 4GCanada’s three national carriers were only allowed to bid on 64 of the available licences in this year’s auction because of restrictions imposed by the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.ISED Minister Navdeep Bains said some of the licences were set aside for smaller carriers in order to stimulate competition which, he said, will bring down consumer prices.“I’m confident this strategy – in the short, medium and long-term – will benefit consumers.”WATCH: Consumer complaints about wireless and internet services continue to grow

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April 11, 2019 at 10:47AM