Canada auction aims to reshape wireless market

Canada's government launched an auction of wireless spectrum on Tuesday that it hopes will bolster competition and lower prices by allowing new players to break into the cellular phone market. In a process that Industry Minister Jim Prentice estimates could take up to a month to complete, 24 companies can bid electronically on 292 licenses for chunks of wireless airwaves in different geographical regions across the country. Of the 105 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum to be auctioned, 40 MHz will be set aside for new players. That provision is a source of worry for the three big players -- Rogers Communications, Telus Corp and BCE -- which control about 95 percent of the wireless market in terms of revenue.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN2737547420080527