Statement by Industry Minister James Moore

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 24, 2015) - The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Industry, today made the following statement:

"Today our government approved a series of spectrum licence transfers between Rogers, Shaw, Mobilicity and WIND. These transfers will result in at least four wireless firms in every region of the country being able to offer the latest technology, world-class service and more choice to all Canadians and their families.

"Wireless spectrum is a vital public resource, and our government has released more of it than all other previous governments combined. Our objective in doing so has been to promote more competition in Canada's wireless sector. In 2006, 98 percent of available spectrum was held by Canada's largest wireless firms. Today, thanks to our policies and recent spectrum auctions, new wireless companies now hold approximately 25 percent of the total wireless spectrum available-creating the conditions for more competition in our wireless sector than ever before.

"The approval of these spectrum licence transfers is a win for Canadian consumers. A new wireless competitor has secured valuable spectrum it needs, and high-quality spectrum that went unused for almost a decade will now be deployed for the betterment of all Canadians.

"Our government has one goal: to take deliberate, concrete steps to create more choice, lower prices and better wireless service for Canadians and their families. Today's approval of these licence transfers delivers on this objective."

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Backgrounder

AWS Spectrum Licences Transfer

What is the deal?

Industry Canada approved a request to transfer 18 spectrum licences from Shaw Communications to Rogers Communications. Rogers will keep two of these licences, which were acquired by Shaw in the 2008 AWS spectrum auction, and provide the other 16 licences to WIND Mobile.

A transfer of Mobilicity's 10 spectrum licences-acquired in 2008-to Rogers, which will provide all of those 10 licences to WIND in exchange for a portion of WIND's current spectrum, was also approved.

Why have we approved this deal?

Recent spectrum assignments in the 700 MHz, AWS-3, AWS-4 and 2500 MHz bands have provided all current and potential wireless service providers with multiple opportunities to access additional spectrum licences in the affected licence areas to meet their spectrum needs. These assignments have had a notable effect on the landscape of spectrum holdings in these areas.

These transfers, which were evaluated under Industry Canada's Spectrum Licence Transfer Framework, will not result in an excessive concentration of spectrum in one company's hands, nor will they adversely affect future competition.

Industry Canada notes that the requested licence transfers involve some spectrum that is currently not being used to provide services and will provide an opportunity to Rogers and WIND to put such spectrum to use for the benefit of Canadians.

In addition, Mobilicity's customers will benefit from continued service.

What are the benefits to WIND?

As a new competitor, WIND Mobile will benefit greatly from this deal. In most of its key areas of service, WIND will now have enough spectrum to deploy the next generation of wireless services, known as long-term evolution or LTE.

This transaction will support competition by increasing WIND Mobile's spectrum holdings in key markets in British Columbia, Alberta and Eastern Ontario. Access to sufficient spectrum is a key element in enabling wireless carriers to deploy the latest LTE data service. In addition, the transaction also provides Mobilicity with funding to make restitution to creditors. It also involves some spectrum that is currently not being used to provide service, and the transfers will provide an opportunity to put this spectrum to use for the benefit of Canadians.

AWS-1 Spectrum Holdings Before the Proposed Transfers
Region	Service Area	A Tier 3 20 MHz	B Tier 2 20 MHz	C Tier 2 10 MHz	D Tier 3 10 MHz	E Tier 3 10 MHz	F Tier 3 20 MHz
Eastern Ontario	Ottawa / Outaouais	Rogers	Videotron	Mobilicity	WIND	Bell	Telus
	Pembroke	Rogers			WIND	Bell	Telus
	Cornwall	Rogers			WIND	Telus	Bell
	Brockville	Rogers			WIND	Telus	Bell
	Kingston	Rogers			WIND	Telus	Bell
	Belleville	Rogers			WIND	Telus	Bell
	Cobourg	Rogers			WIND	Telus	Bell
	Peterborough	Rogers			WIND	Telus	Bell
Southern Ontario	Huntsville	Rogers	WIND	Mobilicity	Rich	Telus	Bell
	Toronto	Rogers			Videotron	Telus	Bell
	Barrie	Rogers			Eastlink	Telus	Bell
	Guelph / Kitchener	Rogers			Mobilicity	Telus	Bell
	Listowel / Goderich / Stratford	Rogers			Eastlink	Telus	Bell
	Niagara-St. Catharines	Rogers			Mobilicity	Telus	Bell
	London / Woodstock / St. Thomas	Rogers			Eastlink	Bell	Telus
	Chatham	Rogers			Celluworld	Bell	Telus
	Windsor / Leamington	Rogers			Mobilicity	Bell	Telus
	Strathroy	Rogers			Eastlink	Telus	Bell
Northern Ontario	North Bay	Rogers	Eastlink	WIND	Eastlink	Telus	Bell
	Sault Ste. Marie	Rogers			Shaw	Telus	Bell
	Sudbury	Rogers			Eastlink	Telus	Bell
	Kirkland Lake	Rogers			Eastlink	Telus	Bell
	Thunder Bay	Rogers			Shaw	Telus	Bell
Manitoba	Winnipeg	Rogers	MTS	Shaw	WIND	Shaw	Telus
	Brandon	Rogers			WIND	Shaw	Telus
Saskatchewan	Regina	Rogers	SaskTel	SaskTel	Shaw	WIND	Telus
	Moose Jaw	Rogers			Shaw	WIND	Telus
	Saskatoon	Telus			Shaw	WIND	Rogers
Alberta	Edmonton	Rogers	Shaw	WIND	Mobilicity	Bell	Telus
	Medicine Hat / Brooks	Rogers			Shaw	Bell	Telus
	Lethbridge	Rogers			Shaw	Bell	Telus
	Calgary	Rogers			Mobilicity	Bell	Telus
	Red Deer	Rogers			Mobilicity	Bell	Telus
	Grande Prairie	Rogers			Eastlink	Eastlink	Telus
British Columbia	Kootenays	Rogers	Shaw	WIND	Shaw	Bell	Telus
	Okanagan / Columbia	Rogers			Shaw	Bell	Telus
	Vancouver	Rogers			Mobilicity	Bell	Telus
	Victoria	Rogers			Mobilicity	Bell	Telus
	Nanaimo	Rogers			Shaw	Bell	Telus
	Courtenay	Rogers			Shaw	Bell	Telus
	Thompson / Cariboo	Rogers			Shaw	Bell	Telus
	Prince George	Rogers			Shaw	Bell	Telus
	Dawson Creek	Rogers			Rich	Bell	Telus

AWS-1 Spectrum Holdings After the Proposed Transfers
Region	Service Area	A Tier 3 20 MHz	B Tier 2 20 MHz		C Tier 2 10 MHz	D Tier 3 10 MHz	E Tier 3 10 MHz	F Tier 3 20 MHz
Eastern Ontario	Ottawa / Outaouais	Rogers	Videotron		WIND	WIND	Bell	Telus
	Pembroke	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Cornwall	Rogers				WIND	Telus	Bell
	Brockville	Rogers				WIND	Telus	Bell
	Kingston	Rogers				WIND	Telus	Bell
	Belleville	Rogers				WIND	Telus	Bell
	Cobourg	Rogers				WIND	Telus	Bell
	Peterborough	Rogers				WIND	Telus	Bell
Southern Ontario	Huntsville	Rogers	Rogers	WIND	WIND	Rich	Telus	Bell
	Toronto	Rogers				Videotron	Telus	Bell
	Barrie	Rogers				Eastlink	Telus	Bell
	Guelph / Kitchener	Rogers				WIND	Telus	Bell
	Listowel / Goderich/ Stratford	Rogers				Eastlink	Telus	Bell
	Niagara-St. Catharines	Rogers				WIND	Telus	Bell
	London / Woodstock / St. Thomas	Rogers				Eastlink	Bell	Telus
	Chatham	Rogers				Celluworld	Bell	Telus
	Windsor / Leamington	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Strathroy	Rogers				Eastlink	Telus	Bell
Northern Ontario	North Bay	Rogers	Eastlink		WIND	Eastlink	Telus	Bell
	Sault Ste. Marie	Rogers				WIND	Telus	Bell
	Sudbury	Rogers				Eastlink	Telus	Bell
	Kirkland Lake	Rogers				Eastlink	Telus	Bell
	Thunder Bay	Rogers				WIND	Telus	Bell
Manitoba	Winnipeg	Rogers	MTS		WIND	WIND	WIND	Telus
	Brandon	Rogers				WIND	WIND	Telus
Saskatchewan	Regina	Rogers	SaskTel		SaskTel	WIND	WIND	Telus
	Moose Jaw	Rogers				WIND	WIND	Telus
	Saskatoon	Telus				WIND	WIND	Rogers
Alberta	Edmonton	Rogers	Rogers		WIND	WIND	Bell	Telus
	Medicine Hat / Brooks	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Lethbridge	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Calgary	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Red Deer	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Grande Prairie	Rogers				Eastlink	Eastlink	Telus
British Columbia	Kootenays	Rogers	Rogers		WIND	WIND	Bell	Telus
	Okanagan/Columbia	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Vancouver	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Victoria	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Nanaimo	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Courtenay	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Thompson / Cariboo	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Prince George	Rogers				WIND	Bell	Telus
	Dawson Creek	Rogers				Rich	Bell	Telus