Stamp prices rise for the third time in five years amid financial woes for Canada Post
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
The federal government raised $8.9 billion in a licence auction for a key band of 5G wireless spectrum in results announced after the close of markets Thursday.
Canada's Big Three wireless companies led the pack, grabbing hundreds of licences for the 3,500 MHz band of airwaves.
The 3,500-megahertz band of spectrum will be important because carriers are using it as a building block for their 5G networks. More equipment for carriers and smartphone hardware is expected to work with that frequency band.
Mid-range bands like 3,500 MHz are useful in both urban and rural areas because they have the ability to travel considerable distances and pass through buildings.
"The 3500 MHz auction is a key step in our government's plan to promote competition in the telecom sector, improve rural connectivity, and ensure Canadians benefit from 5G technologies and services," said Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry in a statement.
"As intended, small and regional providers have gained access to significantly more spectrum, meaning that Canadians can expect better wireless services at more competitive prices, which has never been more important for working, online learning and staying connected with loved ones."
As well as Rogers, Bell and Telus, carriers gaining licences include Videotron, Xplornet and SaskTel.
Rogers won 325 licenses, the largest amount, paying a clock price of $3.3 billion that will allow them to provide service to 34 million people.
The company said its investment will allow it to reach 99.4 per cent of Canadians with 5G.
"This investment in 5G spectrum will build on our existing 5G assets and enable us to deliver the world-class connectivity Canada needs to increase productivity, fuel innovation, create jobs, and compete in a global economy for decades to come," said Joe Natale, President and CEO, Rogers Communications in a statement.
"We went into this auction with a clear plan and acquired the spectrum we need to continue driving the largest and most reliable 5G network in Canada and to deliver long-term value for our customers, shareholders and Canada."
Videotron purchased 294 licenses, Bell received 271 and Telus won 142. Xplornet received 263 licenses.
Quebecor Inc., the parent company of Videotron, said its investments in the 5G auction were another step in its expansion outside of Quebec.
It said more than half of the investments are concentrated in southern and eastern Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia.
"This major investment paves the way for large-scale projects in Quebec and other Canadian provinces in the coming years," says Pierre Karl Peladeau, President and CEO of Quebecor.
"Our success in Quebec has served Quebecers well. Today, we are taking another step towards bringing leading-edge technology and healthy competition to more Canadian consumers."
Freedom Mobile, the country's fourth largest cell service provider, chose not to participate in the auction amid a takeover deal of its parent company Shaw Communications Inc. by Rogers that is awaiting regulatory approval.
The United States held a similar auction last year, raising US$4.5 billion ($5.6 billion) in net proceeds. Ottawa's $8.9 billion far outstrips the $3.5 billion raised in a 2019 spectrum auction for a different, less desirable wireless band.
In total, 1,495 out of 1,504 available licences were awarded to 15 Canadian companies, including 757 licences to small and regional providers across the country.
National and regional carriers collectively spend billions of dollars at auction to obtain licences for the spectrum they use for wireless service.
The 5G-compatible licences will allow more voice, video and data to be shared between smartphones or with other devices.
The auction was originally scheduled to take place last year but was delayed six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2021.
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women in Winnipeg, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be tabling legislation on Monday aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada. Federal officials have scheduled a technical briefing on the incoming bill for Monday afternoon.
H5N1 or avian flu is decimating wildlife around the world and is now spreading among cattle in the United States, sparking concerns about 'pandemic potential' for humans. Now a health expert is urging Canada to scale up surveillance north of the border.
Polish prosecutors have discontinued an investigation into human skeletons found at a site where German dictator Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders spent time during the Second World War because the advanced state of decay made it impossible to determine the cause of death, a spokesman said Monday.
Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days. Extortion rackets have gone out of fashion and murders are largely frowned upon by the godfathers.
An Ontario MPP was asked again to leave the Ontario legislature on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that was banned by the Speaker last month due to its political symbolism.
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
The judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush money trial fined him US$1,000 on Monday for violating his gag order once again and sternly warned the former president that additional violations could result in jail time.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.