The FBI says it raised $8.9B from the Canadian Telecom auction to obtain a 5G wireless spectrum license

The federal government said that in the results announced this afternoon, it raised $8.9 billion in license auctions for key bands of 5G wireless spectrum.

Canada’s three major wireless companies took the lead and obtained hundreds of 3,500 MHz radio wave licenses.

In addition to Rogers, Bell and Telus, licensed operators include Videotron, Xplornet and SaskTel.

Since Rogers’ acquisition of its parent company Shaw Communications Inc. has not yet been approved by regulators, Freedom Mobile, the country’s fourth largest mobile phone service provider, chose not to participate in the auction.

1:45New Minister of Innovation Champagne discusses Canada’s position on 5G network implementation

A similar auction was held in the United States last year, raising US$4.5 billion (US$5.6 billion) in net proceeds. Ottawa’s US$8.9 billion far exceeded the US$3.5 billion raised in the 2019 spectrum auction for different, less-than-ideal wireless bands.

In total, 1,495 of the 1,504 available licenses were issued to 15 Canadian companies, of which 757 were issued to small and regional suppliers across the country.