ISED ‘repurposing’ 3800 MHz spectrum band, dismissing Telesat proposal

The federal government announced Friday it is repurposing the 3800 MHz spectrum band to support 5G services, with an auction to take place in early 2023. The department of Innovation, Science and Industry (ISED) said in a release Friday making more spectrum available will support more rural and urban wireless services, plus the deployment of 5G. "Our government is committed to making the right spectrum available to support the highest quality wireless services and the rollout of 5G technologies. We know these services will drive innovative new technologies, from clean energy to telemedicine, while also creating good jobs and new products for Canadians living in rural and remote areas,” François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said in the release Friday. His department said the decision will connect more people to high-speed internet “with large amounts of spectrum maintained for satellite services in remote areas and the amount of spectrum available to support wireless broadband services increased from 50 MHz to 80 MHz, Canadians living in rural areas will have better access to high-speed networks.” Along with the 3500 MHz band -- which goes up for auction on June 15, ISED said the 3800 band is “globally recognized as key for 5G networks.” It contains the frequency range 3650-4200 MHz. Earlier this year, Telesat Holdings Inc. said it won’t be able to compete with its competitors in the United States if ISED did not approve its proposal to auction off spectrum it holds in the 3700-3900 MHz band. Under Telesat’s plan, it proposed that 200 MHz of spectrum — from 3700 to 3900 MHz — would be cleared for wireless services and auctioned this year alongside the 3500 MHz spectrum band, with Telesat to sell the rights to that spectrum directly in the secondary market, instead of an ISED licencing process. Telesat had said that it will invest the proceeds of the sale into its low earth orbit satellite constellation (LEOs). In its decision Friday, ISED said both its own proposal and Telesat’s accelerated proposal “were based on certain common elements,” such as that there would be a fundamental re-allocation of a large portion of the 3800 MHz band, which would include the creation of a number of new flexible-use licences, and the new flexible-use licences would have a number of conditions of licence to be developed, including competitive measures. “While the comments from stakeholders provided a variety of rationale, both in favour and against Telesat’s proposal, ISED has decided not to adopt the initial proposal, nor the revised proposal,” the department said in its decision. It said its “long-standing policy” is that an ISED auction will be used to assign spectrum licences where there is more demand than supply. “Clearly there will be high demand for the flexible use licences, but Telesat’s proposal is based on a direct assignment of 200 MHz of spectrum licences in every licence area in Canada directly to Telesat with no licensing process, which is fundamentally in opposition to this basic policy.” Telesat’s proposal had been opposed by a number of larger telecoms — including Rogers Communications Inc., Bragg Communications Inc.‘s Eastlink, Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp., Quebecor Inc., and Shaw Communications Inc. — who have objected to the idea of a private entity managing spectrum allocation, rather than the government. Both BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. backed the plan on the basis it would speed up the rollout of 5G service in Canada. “ISED is of the view that Telesat’s proposals are not in accordance with ISED’s established policies and spectrum management practices, and the proposals would not ensure an outcome that assists in meeting the policy goal of maximizing the economic and social benefits that Canadians derive from the use of the radio frequency spectrum resource,” it said Friday. However, it said although it is not adopting Telesat’s specific proposal, “this should not be read as a lack of support for Canadian LEO solutions. The Government of Canada is in discussion with Telesat about further support for its LEO project.” ISED said satellite services will be limited to the 4000 to 4200 MHz portion of the band by 2025, “with certain exceptions,” and that this decision allows existing fixed satellite service providers to continue using the whole 500 MHz in more remote areas that rely on satellite for critical services, including broadband connectivity. By 2025, wireless broadband service licensees in urban areas will be transitioned, while licensees in rural areas will have until 2027, according to the release. - Reporting by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

ISED ‘repurposing’ 3800 MHz spectrum band, dismissing Telesat proposal

News | May 21, 2021

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ISED ‘repurposing’ 3800 MHz spectrum band, dismissing Telesat proposal

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