Canadian auction tops $3.6 billion

For the big three, we have Rogers at $810.5 million, Telus at $736.3 million, and Bell at $508.2 million. Despite Rogers’ high bids, they control just 47 licenses, while Telus has 50 and Bell has 45. Clearly, this could all change before the end of the auction. Globative, a Toronto-based outfit, has laid down $736.3 million. They have the high bids on 34 licenses. Quebecor Inc. has laid down just shy of $500 million for just 17 licenses. Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless Inc. has slapped down $228 million on a mere nine licenses. Then again, Shaw Communications has 19 licenses for $147.6 million, so we shouldn’t read too much into the price per license. At the auction’s outset, some in the Canadian government were critical of the rules in place, saying it should have been a free-for-all auction, which presumably would have led to a higher auction haul. I’m wondering if they had counted on the bidding getting this high.]]>