American wireless giants like Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, have apparently put aside aspirations of breaking into the Canadian marketplace during the federal spectrum auction, which kicks off late May.
Observers say that part of the problem lies in strict government regulations, which limit foreign telecom companies from simply breaking into Canada with their own platforms. Instead, they can only invest a minority stake in another company.
In recent years, AT&T formed a relationship with Rogers Communications, but was later bought out by its Canadian partner.
Last fall, the government said it was making available 105 megahertz of radio spectrum, including 40 MHz set-aside for new entrants.
This is the first time since 1995 that the government has made new spectrum available. At that time, Clearnet and Microcell emerged as new entrants, although both were later acquired by Telus and Rogers respectively.
