Canada's federal government plans to hold an auction in 2020 for the fifth-generation wireless spectrum needed to power advanced mobile networks, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said on Wednesday.
“We believe this puts us in a relatively strong position relative to our international peers,” Minister Bains said prior to a speech at the Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto. “We will still be ahead of Australia and Germany and will be (among) the top five countries when it comes to making spectrum available for 5G.”
Industry players — particularly Telus — have called for the auction of 3,500 megahertz of spectrum in 2019 to keep up with other countries as smartphone makers bring out devices capable of using 5G networks. Mobile 5G wireless technology is up to 100 times faster than current 4G systems and promises better Internet on smartphones as well as potential applications for self-driving cars and other new technologies.
The chief technology officer for Telus Corp. told the conference that Canadian consumers will be at a disadvantage if Ottawa waits until 2020 to hold a 5G wireless spectrum auction.
“You will not be able, as a Canadian, to use the latest Samsung phone, or the latest LG, or the latest Huawei, or even the latest iPhone, until 2021," Telus Chief Technology Officer Ibrahim Gedeon said in a speech.
But Minister Bains stressed that the federal government believes 2020 will be soon enough to hold the spectrum auction. He also said that his department has already announced an auction of 600 MHz spectrum in 2019 — which has 5G potential — and that Ottawa will also hold a 2021 auction of 5G-friendly millimetre-wave spectrum.
