I was wondering what the response from the Canadian Government was going to be over the latest attempt by Telus to purchase the assets of struggling wireless carrier Mobilicity. It seems the response is an angry one. The Globe And Mail is reporting that Telus is being sent a very sharp message by the Canadian Government:
“If Telus doesn’t drop efforts to acquire spectrum set aside for new entrants, the Harper government is prepared to change the rules of the upcoming wireless auction that could effectively bar Telus or any incumbent from acquiring that spectrum,” a senior government source said.
Well, that isn’t subtle. And if this is true, it would really hurt Telus. Here’s why:
Analysts have expected Telus would be a big beneficiary of the 2,500 MHz auction, scheduled for 2015, because Bell and Rogers, the other two big incumbents, already own significant amounts. The auction rules put caps on how much spectrum companies can own in each region and Bell and Rogers are currently at or near their cap in most areas, government sources say.
This leaves Telus as the only major incumbent eligible to acquire significant portions of the 2,500 Mhz spectrum in the auction.
You can bet that there’s a fair amount of discussion going on at Telus HQ. I’d keep an eye on this story. It’s going to get very interesting.
UPDATE: Reuters is reporting that the Canadian Government via Industry Minister James Moore will have a decision on the Telus/Mobilicity hookup “soon.”
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This entry was posted on April 25, 2014 at 7:29 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Canada, Telus, wireless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Feds Warn Telus Over Mobilicity Purchase [UPDATED]
I was wondering what the response from the Canadian Government was going to be over the latest attempt by Telus to purchase the assets of struggling wireless carrier Mobilicity. It seems the response is an angry one. The Globe And Mail is reporting that Telus is being sent a very sharp message by the Canadian Government:
“If Telus doesn’t drop efforts to acquire spectrum set aside for new entrants, the Harper government is prepared to change the rules of the upcoming wireless auction that could effectively bar Telus or any incumbent from acquiring that spectrum,” a senior government source said.
Well, that isn’t subtle. And if this is true, it would really hurt Telus. Here’s why:
Analysts have expected Telus would be a big beneficiary of the 2,500 MHz auction, scheduled for 2015, because Bell and Rogers, the other two big incumbents, already own significant amounts. The auction rules put caps on how much spectrum companies can own in each region and Bell and Rogers are currently at or near their cap in most areas, government sources say.
This leaves Telus as the only major incumbent eligible to acquire significant portions of the 2,500 Mhz spectrum in the auction.
You can bet that there’s a fair amount of discussion going on at Telus HQ. I’d keep an eye on this story. It’s going to get very interesting.
UPDATE: Reuters is reporting that the Canadian Government via Industry Minister James Moore will have a decision on the Telus/Mobilicity hookup “soon.”
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This entry was posted on April 25, 2014 at 7:29 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Canada, Telus, wireless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.