Canadian carrier Bell’s 5G services already reach more than 40% of the country’s population and are on track to reach 70% coverage by the end of the year, the company’s CEO Mirko Bibic, said during a conference call with investors.
“We secured 30% of the 3.5 GHz spectrum available to national wireless carriers at the recently concluded auction for a price of CAD2.07 billion ($1.67 billion). This included an additional 30 megahertz in each of the top three markets and an incremental 22 megahertz in our rural wireless-to-the-home markets,” the executive said.
“Together with existing holdings, Bell now possesses 37% or a weighted average of approximately 50 megahertz of the total spectrum that was available to the incumbent national wireless carriers, acquired at an industry low average blended cost of $1.25 per MHz-POP. That said, given how the government designed the auction, it was the most expensive auction in Canadian history, a key factor that requires careful consideration and future assessments on our auction frameworks and on future assessments of wireless pricing by the government,” Bibic added.
The government of Canada recently confirmed it had raised a total of CAD8.9 billion in its auction of 3.5 GHz spectrum, which will be used by local carrier to further expand 5G services in the country.
5G licenses in this key band were made available based on 172 localized service areas covering the entire country, allowing bidders to target geographic markets, including rural areas. The government noted that a total of 23 companies participated in the auction. In total, 1,495 out of 1,504 available licenses were awarded to 15 operators, including 757 licenses to small and regional providers across the country.
Earlier this year, Bell announced the biggest capital expenditure plan in its history, with at least CAD1 billion in additional capital investment in new networks over the next two years to support the national economic and employment recovery from COVID-19. This investment is in addition to the more than $4 billion that Bell typically invests annually in next generation wireless and fibre network infrastructure and service development.
Bell announced the launch of its commercial 5G service in the country last June. The carrier’s 5G service was initially available in Montréal, the Greater Toronto Area, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
In 2020, Bell Canada selected Ericsson 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) technology to support its nationwide 5G mobile and fixed wireless access deployment. The carrier started the construction of its 5G network last year, using equipment from Finnish vendor Nokia.
