The five-year ban on Mobilicity’s spectrum transfers ends this Wednesday which has signalled some to believe Telus will make a third attempt at acquiring the struggling wireless startup, currently under creditor protection, reports Reuters.
The publication reports Ottawa has reiterated its position from the summer, which stated no spectrum transfers will be approved to the Big 3 which would allow “undue concentration”:
But when asked whether Ottawa planned to extend the spectrum transfer moratorium, the answer was emphatically the same as it was in June, when the government first said it wanted to avoid more frequencies falling to established operators.
“The minister has made his position clear already on spectrum transfers,” said Jake Enwright, a spokesman for Industry Minister James Moore. “We’ve been clear that we will not approve any spectrum transfer that results in undue concentration.”
Telus tried to unsuccessfully buy Mobilicity last May offering $380 million; a second offer was rejected by Ottawa back in October.
Despite the setback, Ottawa did approve the Telus bid to acquire Public Mobile, which consisted of G-band spectrum, not under the same terms as the 2008 AWS set-aside spectrum part of Mobilicity and Wind Mobile’s current network.
