The Canadian regulatory agency ruled that newcomer Globalive Communications Corp. is not a Canadian-owned company and so cannot operate a wireless network, despite having paid $442 million CDN last year to acquire a nationwide AWS license.
What happens next is unclear; Globalive said it is reviewing its options, according to published reports. The company, which was originally awarded the spectrum by Industry Canada in March this year, has already picked Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel-Lucent to build out its 3G network.
Canadian telecom rules require that commercial telecom carriers be majority owned by Canadians. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ruled that Globalive is 65%-owned by Orscacom Telecommunications Holdings, an Egyption-based company. Globalive, Videotron, Dave Wireless and Public Mobile all won AWS spectrum in 2008 designed to bring more competition to Canada. The Canadian market is dominated by Telus Mobility, Bell Canada and Rogers Communications Inc. Telus filed the initial protest after Industry Canada awarded Globalive the 2 GHz spectrum.
Canadian authorities rule Globalive not qualified for spectrum license
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