Canada opening the door for the little guy – sets aside 40Mhz for newcomers

Competition is the driving force behind innovation in any market – the wireless market especially. So, in light of that fact, Canada has set aside a 40Mhz swath of wireless spectrum to give potential new wireless carriers a chance to enter the Canadian market.

Industry Minister Jim Prentice said that the 40Mhz slice of radio frequencies would be “set aside for newcomers to the industry.” Presumably, the goal is to open the door to more competition – which should lead to higher-quality service and lower-prices for the Canadian population.

And, to ensure that only the little-dog gets a chance at owning the 40Mhz spectrum, Prentice said that only companies with revenues accounting for less than 10% of the Canadian market will be allowed to enter a bid. As you might imagine, industry incumbents like Telus aren’t exactly pleased with the new auction rules. But hey, as long as it drives down those crazy data rates in Canada, we’re sure the consumer won’t be complaining anytime soon.

It sure would be interesting to see the FCC enact rules that would effectively shut-out the big-dog incumbents from the upcoming 700Mhz auction. But, then again, those same big-dogs contribute way to much “lobbying” money to let that kind of thing happen – even if it is in the best interest of the US consumer. Corrupt? We didn’t say it. No wait, yes we did.

[Via: Engadget Mobile]