Canada’s recent radio spectrum auction will give birth to a new wireless carrier for the country. Globalive Communications, one of the winners in the auction, paid CA$442 million for licenses that would cover all of Canada except Quebec. The company is currently searching for network infrastructure, but has reached a shortlist of two bidders for the job. Their intention is simple, launch a new Canadian wireless network in the second half of 2009, starting with a test service for “friendly customers” and followed by a commercial launch a few months later.
The big 3 in Canada, Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless and Telus have all posted their current subscriber numbers. Bell Mobility ending the first quarter with 6.25 million customers, Rogers Wireless ended with 7.58 million and Telus finished up with 5.66 million. Based on population, there is considerable growth potential in the Canadian wireless market (current population: 33 million), but the big question is how many of those remaining 13 million Canadians want to test drive a new network. Although I am sure most of you will just be glad if the added competition drops the data prices.
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