While unlikely to be the only one, only one company, WIND Mobile, confirmed that it made a bid to buy its struggling competitor in Mobilicity’s December auction. While the outcome of the auction has yet to be announced, it now appears that regional carrier Videotron may also be interested. According to Bank of Nova Scotia analyst Jeff Fan, Quebecor, Videotron’s parent company, signed a non-disclosure agreement with Mobilicity ahead of the 700MHz spectrum auction that kicked off yesterday.
While Videotron only operates in Quebec, Quebecor secured some spectrum outside of the province in the 2008 wireless spectrum auction. It picked up 20MHz in Eastern Ontario and another 10MHz in Toronto. This latest move could be a sign that Quebecor is now looking to secure additional licenses outside as well as in its home market of Quebec.
Acquiring Mobilicity would give Quebecor spectrum in the Toronto, Ottawa (including Gatineau), Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver areas. Expanding operations outside of Quebec could then be the next move. It could eventually be looking to establish itself as the fourth national carrier that the Canadian government is hoping for to improve competition in the wireless sector. It would not be the first time that the company had such intentions as it reportedly also considered such a move ahead of the 2008 auction.
An outright purchase is certainly not the only option on the table though. As Mark Goldberg, a telecommunications consultant, points out, Videotron may simply be after the Outaouais region spectrum to build up its coverage in that area. Whereas it has 40MHz across portions of Quebec, it only managed to secure 20MHz in that region during the last auction.
Videotron is participating in the 700MHz auction that got underway this week and may well secure additional spectrum this way as well.
Source : The Globe and Mail