By Rhonda Wickham
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
After nearly two months and 331 rounds of bidding, Canada's auction of wireless spectrum has concluded, according to a government official. Yesterday, two consecutive rounds in the auction produced no new bids. The auction raised $4.25 billion, which is more than twice the amount analysts had projected.
According to the auction Website, Rogers Communications was the top bidder, with offers totaling $999.4 million.
Two other Canadian telecom giants, Telus and BCE, came in second and third with $879.9 million and $740.9 million.
The Canadian government auctioned off 105 MHz of radio frequency spectrum; 40 MHz was set aside for bidding on by new entrants. The government said the "set-aside" was intended to stimulate competition. Some of the newcomers in the auction were Quebecor, Globalive Communications and Shaw Communications.