Canadian spectrum auction closes at $4.25 billion

It was supposed to end weeks ago. But the Canadian wireless spectrum auction forged on. In fact, it should have ended again on Friday, but David George-Cosh of the Financial Post cultivated his sources and told us that because of actions by Rogers Communications and Bragg Communications, the auction would go on. Finally, on Monday, the auction officially ended, according to Reuters.

As expected, Rogers finished as the auction’s highest bidder, laying down $600,000 short of a billion dollars. That bought them licenses spanning the country, and will help them enhance their already gigantic network. Telus followed with $879.9 million, and Bell, despite being bid up on Friday, spent the third most, $740.9 million. These three companies, though, only had access to 60 percent of the available spectrum. The rest went to the new guys.

On the new entrants end, Quebecor spent the most on spectrum, handing $554.5 million over to the Canadian government. Globalive Communications was a bit behind, spending $442.1 million. However, it’s not how much you spend; it’s how effectively you use the spectrum you won:

Analysts have suggested that Quebecor, a printing and media company with an established presence in its home province of Quebec, could partner with Globalive to create a national service provider.

Also-rans include Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless, which dropped $243.2 million, and Shaw Communications $189.5 million.

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