Industry Canada Minister John Manley announced the availability of new wireless broadband spectrum to accommodate the increased demand for high-speed local access infrastructure required for Internet and e-commerce applications.
“The telecommunications industry is moving at a rapid pace.
Providing easy access to leading edge wireless broadband
telecommunications is a crucial step in our connectedness agenda,” said Minister Manley.
“Given the worldwide developments in wireless broadband, we are responsive
to the needs of Canadian businesses and entrepreneurs to make spectrum
available for new services.”
The new frequency bands are at 24 GHz and 38 GHz. In each licensing market a
total of 1100 MHz will be made available on a block-by-block basis.
Licensing is expected to be completed by September 1999. An auction is being
considered to determine the successful applicants. Details of both the
policy and licensing process will be elaborated upon in a consultation paper.
The Minister also announced that there will be a postponement in the
licensing of further spectrum in the 28 GHz band for Local Multipoint
Communication Systems (LMCS) for at least 18 months due to licensing delays
in the U.S. market.
Manley further announced a one-year extension on the service roll out
requirements of the existing LMCS licensees.