WASHINGTON-Canada announced last month it will award 354 licenses for spectrum in the 24 GHz and 38 GHz bands by both auction and first-come-first-served, beginning in August.
The spectrum allocations match those used in the United States. Currently, the most prominent U.S. licensees of this spectrum are Teligent Inc. in the 24 GHz band and WinStar Communications Inc. in the 38 GHz band.
The fixed wireless spectrum will be auctioned for use in point-to-multipoint communications systems. Industry Canada, Canada’s federal spectrum authority, expects the auction to take place in late September or early October.
Applications and deposits for all spectrum allocation-including point-to-point systems, which will not be auctioned-are due Aug. 6.
Incumbent local exchange carriers are limited to 200 megahertz of in-region spectrum, while the spectrum cap for others is 600 megahertz.