SaskTel says Rules for 700 MHz Band Wireless Spectrum License Auction are Biased

By: Ali Raza  |   April 19th, 2013   |   Business, News, O Canada, Smartphones

Ottawa is all geared up to hold bidding for the popular 700 MHz band wireless spectrum licenses in November this year. New 700 MHz wireless spectrum consumers in the region will be able to receive coverage at distant places plus it can penetrate easily through buildings and more importantly it can offer better data usage. According to the Federal Government, this bidding would not only benefit people living in rural areas, but also offer better service because of its high band width. However, SaskTel, a telecom carrier owned by the province does not agree with Federal Government’s philosophy of introducing new wireless spectrum and says that this is a “myth”.

 

Talking to The Globe and Mail during an interview, SaskTel said that they want to give better services by growing their network, but this completely depends on the acquisition of a higher spectrum and the forthcoming bidding of 700 MHz wireless spectrum does not encourage the company to extend its wings to the rural communities. On top of it, the upcoming auction is not going to raise the bar of the competition in the region, SaskTel added.

 

Here is what the President and Chief Executive Officer of SaskTel, Ron Styles has exactly said in the interview with The Globe and Mail:

 

“It doesn’t foster competition and it doesn’t help with rural coverage.” He also said, “Give us a level playing field and we will play on it. But when it is tilted against us, don’t try to tell me later on you’re looking for competition.”

 

John Meldrum, who is the Vice-President Corporate Counsel and Regulatory Affairs at SaskTel said the following:

 

“You know they have a vision of four carriers, right? In Saskatchewan, we have four carriers, but if anything, this auction is going to hurt the fourth carrier. It doesn’t make sense if your goal is to foster competition.”

 

According to iPhoneinCanada, “Auction rules stated earlier this year will limit our incumbents to acquire only one of four licenses in each geographic area; newer entrants will be allowed to purchase two if they outbid the ‘Big 3′.”

 

At this point in time SaskTel maintains the 73 percent market share in the wireless industry of Saskatchewan. In spite of it, the telecom carrier is not satisfied with the rules of the auction and calls them biased, as they inclined towards incumbents like TELUS, Bell and Rogers, although, Christian Paradis, Industry Minister has said earlier that coverage in rural areas is their priority.

 

However, SaskTel has not lost hope and earlier on Thursday, April 18th it has declared that they had completed 22 various infrastructure improvement projects on their 4G network across Saskatchewan during the previous month in order to boost the capacity of their network and address the increasing demand.

 

Source: iPhoneinCanada