Consultation on the 24 and 38 GHz Frequency Bands: Proposed Policy and Licensing Procedures

Appendix A - Spectrum Utilization Policy Provisions for Point-to-Point Systems Authorized on a First-Come First-Served Basis

1.1 A full description of the relationship between bands and services, as contained in related international and domestic footnotes, can be found in the Canadian Table of Frequency Allocations.

1.2 The use of the bands 38.6-38.7 GHz, 39.3-39.4 GHz, 39.05-39.3 GHz and 39.75-40.0 GHz by the fixed service³²:

1.2.1 The spectrum is assigned on a paired block basis as follows:

Block A/A'	38 600-38 650 MHz	39 300-39 350 MHz
Block B/B'	38 650-38 700 MHz	39 350-39 400 MHz
Block J/J'	39 050-39 100 MHz	39 750-39 800 MHz33
Block K/K'	39 100-39 150 MHz	39 800-39 850 MHz33
Block L/L'	39 150-39 200 MHz	39 850-39 900 MHz
Block M/M'	39 200-39 250 MHz	39 900-39 950 MHz
Block N/N'	39 250-39 300 MHz	39 950-40 000 MHz

1.2.2 These bands are designated for point-to-point microwave systems.

1.2.3 Paired frequency blocks are assigned within a geographical area, on a first-come first-served basis and any paired block may be shared with other operators.

1.2.4 Licensees are permitted to use any channelling arrangement within the assigned block(s) of spectrum.

1.2.5 Aggregation of paired spectrum blocks is permitted; however, licensees are limited to a maximum of two (2) paired blocks in any given area.

1.2.6 One way systems are not permitted.

1.2.7 Radio systems using analogue transmission are not permitted in these bands.

1.2.8 The permitted transmission capacity, as defined in SP 1-20 GHz, is low, medium and high capacity.

1.2.9 The Geographical Differences Policy, as outlined in SP 1-20 GHz, does not apply.

1.3 The use of the band 38.4-38.6 GHz by the fixed service.

1.3.1 The frequency band 38.4-38.6 GHz is designated for one-way, point-to-point and one-way, multipoint communications systems (MCS).

1.3.2 The permitted transmission capacity, as defined in SP1-20 GHz, is low and medium capacity.

1.3.3 The spectrum is assigned on a block basis as follows:

Block A 38 400-38 450 MHz
Block B 38 450-38 500 MHz
Block C 38 500-38 550 MHz
Block D 38 550-38 600 MHz

1.3.4 Frequency blocks are assigned within a geographical area, on a first-come first-served basis and any paired block may be shared with other operators.

1.3.5 Licensees are permitted to use any channeling arrangement within the assigned block(s) of spectrum.

1.3.6 Licensees are limited to one (1) block in a given area. A second block may be granted to a licensee on a case-by-case basis.

1.3.7 Radio systems using analogue transmission are not permitted in these bands.

1.3.8 The Geographical Differences Policy, as outlined in SP 1-20 GHz, does not apply.

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Appendix B - Service Areas/Zones de service

Tier 1/Niveau 1³⁴

#	Service Area Name/Nom de la zone de service	Population
1-01	Canada	28,846,761

 

Tier 2/Niveau 2

#	Service Area Name/Nom de la zone de service	Population
2-01	Newfoundland & Labrador/Terre-Neuve & Labrador	551,792
2-02	Nova Scotia & Prince Edward Island/Nouvelle-Écosse & Île-du-Prince-Édouard	1,043,839
2-03	New Brunswick/Nouveau-Brunswick	738,133
2-04	Eastern Quebec/Québec-Est	1,609,690
2-05	Southern Quebec/Québec-Sud	5,035,827
2-06	Eastern Ontario & Outaouais/Ontario-Est & Outaouais	2,047,352
2-07	Northern Quebec/Québec-Nord	194,810
2-08	Southern Ontario/Ontario-Sud	8,179,887
2-09	Northern Ontario/Ontario-Nord	824,802
2-10	Manitoba	1,115,900
2-11	Saskatchewan	980,770
2-12	Alberta	2,704,291
2-13	British Columbia/Colombie-Britannique	3,724,500
2-14	Yukon, Northwest Territories & Nunavut/Yukon, Territoires du Nord-Ouest & Nunavut	95,168

 

Tier 3/Niveau 3

#	Service Area Name/Nom de la zone de service	Population
3-01	Newfoundland & Labrador/Terre-Neuve & Labrador	551,792
3-02	Prince Edward Island/Île-du-Prince-Édouard	134,557
3-03	Mainland Nova Scotia/Nouvelle-Écosse continentale	751,011
3-04	Cape Breton/Cap Breton	158,271
3-05	Southern New Brunswick/Nouveau-Brunswick-Sud	171,361
3-06	Western New Brunswick/Nouveau-Brunswick-Ouest	209,200
3-07	Eastern New Brunswick/Nouveau-Brunswick-Est	357,572
3-08	Bas du fleuve/Gaspésie	311,501
3-09	Québec	909,256
3-10	Chicoutimi-Jonquière	388,933
3-11	Eastern Townships/Cantons de l'Est	503,748
3-12	Trois-Rivières	743,176
3-13	Montréal	3,682,384
3-14	Outaouais	106,519
3-15	Ottawa	1,193,489
3-16	Pembroke	112,948
3-17	Abitibi	194,810
3-18	Cornwall	66,849
3-19	Brockville	83,985
3-20	Kingston	160,574
3-21	Belleville	183,250
3-22	Cobourg	57,326
3-23	Peterborough	188,931
3-24	Huntsville	69,701
3-25	Toronto	5,146,581
3-26	Barrie	550,912
3-27	Guelph/Kitchener	560,682
3-28	Listowel/Goderich/Stratford	127,423
3-29	Niagara-St. Catharines	353,605
3-30	London/Woodstock/St. Thomas	742,833
3-31	Chatham	109,518
3-32	Windsor/Leamington	351,986
3-33	Strathroy	166,646
3-34	North Bay	124,950
3-35	Sault Ste. Marie	140,395
3-36	Sudbury	184,488
3-37	Kirkland Lake	130,650
3-38	Thunder Bay	244,319
3-39	Winnipeg	938,812
3-40	Brandon	177,088
3-41	Regina	359,584
3-42	Moose Jaw	109,722
3-43	Saskatoon	511,464
3-44	Edmonton	1,149,185
3-45	Medicine Hat/Brooks	134,724
3-46	Lethbridge	150,228
3-47	Calgary	944,382
3-48	Red Deer	176,376
3-49	Grande Prairie	149,396
3-50	Kootenays	134,973
3-51	Okanagan/Columbia	355,904
3-52	Vancouver	2,138,533
3-53	Victoria	382,745
3-54	Nanaimo	159,657
3-55	Courtenay	105,968
3-56	Thompson/Cariboo	173,967
3-57	Prince George	210,420
3-58	Dawson Creek	62,333
3-59	Yukon, Northwest Territories & Nunavut/Yukon, Territoires du Nord-Ouest & Nunavut	95,168

 

Tier 4/Niveau 4

#	Service Area Name/Nom de la zone de service	Population
4-001	St. John's	193,783
4-002	Carbonear	57,740
4-003	Gander/Grand Falls/Windsor	179,081
4-004	Corner Brook/Stephenville	91,998
4-005	Labrador	29,190
4-006	Charlottetown	85,846
4-007	Summerside	48,711
4-008	Yarmouth	64,812
4-009	Bridgewater/Kentville	141,495
4-010	Halifax	372,001
4-011	Truro	55,955
4-012	Amherst	37,559
4-013	Antigonish/New Glasgow	79,189
4-014	Sydney	158,271
4-015	Saint John	144,026
4-016	St. Stephen	27,335
4-017	Fredericton	150,457
4-018	Moncton	147,023
4-019	Miramichi/Bathurst	175,530
4-020	Grand Falls	29,665
4-021	Edmundston	29,078
4-022	Campbellton	35,019
4-023	Matane	126,219
4-024	Mont-Joli	43,984
4-025	Rimouski	52,677
4-026	Rivière-du-Loup	88,621
4-027	La Malbaie	29,918
4-028	Chicoutimi-Jonquière	223,248
4-029	Montmagny	60,714
4-030	Québec	770,868
4-031	Sainte-Marie	47,756
4-032	Saint-Georges	66,540
4-033	Lac Mégantic	23,614
4-034	Thetford Mines	45,272
4-035	Plessisville	21,317
4-036	La Tuque	16,517
4-037	Trois-Rivières	257,201
4-038	Louiseville	22,595
4-039	Asbestos	30,455
4-040	Victoriaville	49,830
4-041	Coaticook	13,085
4-042	Sherbrooke	208,974
4-043	Windsor	16,362
4-044	Drummondville	94,035
4-045	Cowansville	28,299
4-046	Farnham	29,567
4-047	Granby	84,058
4-048	St-Hyacinthe	79,713
4-049	Sorel	65,845
4-050	Joliette	123,212
4-051	Montréal	3,652,817
4-052	Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts	58,730
4-053	Hawkesbury	61,651
4-054	Mont-Laurier/Maniwaki	47,789
4-055	Ottawa	1,131,838
4-056	Pembroke	81,064
4-057	Arnprior/Renfrew	31,884
4-058	Rouyn-Noranda	61,650
4-059	La Sarre	22,586
4-060	Amos	25,565
4-061	Val D'Or	45,402
4-062	Roberval/Saint-Félicien	63,861
4-063	Baie-Comeau	52,298
4-064	Port-Cartier/Sept-Îles	49,526
4-065	Chibougamau	39,607
4-066	Cornwall	66,849
4-067	Brockville	70,974
4-068	Gananoque	13,011
4-069	Kingston	160,574
4-070	Napanee	39,829
4-071	Belleville	143,421
4-072	Cobourg	57,326
4-073	Peterborough	147,737
4-074	Lindsay	41,194
4-075	Minden	17,764
4-076	Toronto	5,146,581
4-077	Alliston	98,133
4-078	Guelph/Kitchener	535,736
4-079	Fergus	24,946
4-080	Kincardine	175,390
4-081	Listowel/Goderich	80,982
4-082	Fort Erie	27,183
4-083	Niagara-St. Catharines	326,422
4-084	Haldimand/Dunnville	34,599
4-085	London/Woodstock/St. Thomas	593,670
4-086	Brantford	114,564
4-087	Stratford	46,441
4-088	Chatham	78,128
4-089	Windsor/Leamington	351,986
4-090	Wallaceburg	31,390
4-091	Sarnia	126,423
4-092	Strathroy	40,223
4-093	Barrie	234,902
4-094	Midland	42,487
4-095	Gravenhurst/Bracebridge	51,937
4-096	North Bay	105,484
4-097	Parry Sound	19,466
4-098	Elliot Lake	30,205
4-099	Sudbury	184,488
4-100	Kirkland Lake	37,807
4-101	Timmins/Kapuskasing	92,843
4-102	Kenora/Sioux Lookout	63,732
4-103	Sault Ste. Marie	110,190
4-104	Thunder Bay	157,424
4-105	Fort Frances	23,163
4-106	Steinbach	44,334
4-107	Winnipeg	767,149
4-108	Morden/Winkler	36,530
4-109	Brandon	133,448
4-110	Portage la Prairie	20,385
4-111	Dauphin	43,640
4-112	Creighton/Flin Flon	25,152
4-113	Thompson	45,262
4-114	Estevan	47,616
4-115	Weyburn	23,121
4-116	Moose Jaw	60,784
4-117	Swift Current	48,938
4-118	Yorkton	71,002
4-119	Regina	217,845
4-120	Saskatoon	251,532
4-121	Battleford	89,351
4-122	Prince Albert	141,479
4-123	Lloydminster	31,668
4-124	Northern Saskatchewan/Saskatchewan-Nord	29,102
4-125	Medicine Hat/Brooks	81,509
4-126	Lethbridge	150,228
4-127	Stettler/Oyen/Wainwright	53,215
4-128	High River	44,070
4-129	Strathmore	34,451
4-130	Calgary	865,861
4-131	Red Deer	134,729
4-132	Wetaskiwin/Ponoka	41,647
4-133	Camrose	33,071
4-134	Vegreville	14,461
4-135	Edmonton	870,340
4-136	Edson/Hinton	44,083
4-137	Bonnyville	71,270
4-138	Whitecourt	25,493
4-139	Barrhead	22,305
4-140	Fort McMurray	36,494
4-141	Peace River	80,807
4-142	Grande Prairie	68,589
4-143	East Kootenay/Kootenay-Est	56,366
4-144	West Kootenay/Kootenay-Ouest	78,607
4-145	Penticton	88,331
4-146	Vancouver	2,054,062
4-147	Victoria	382,745
4-148	Nanaimo	159,657
4-149	Courtenay	105,968
4-150	Powell River	30,156
4-151	Squamish/Whistler	54,315
4-152	Kelowna	215,589
4-153	Kamloops	107,492
4-154	Salmon Arm	51,984
4-155	Williams Lake	41,196
4-156	Quesnel/Red Bluff	25,279
4-157	Skeena	69,804
4-158	Prince George	140,616
4-159	Dawson Creek	62,333
4-160	Yukon	30,766
4-161	Nunavut	25,153
4-162	Northwest Territories/Territoires du Nord-Ouest	39,249

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Footnotes

¹ Industry Canada,(March 2, 1996) Local Multipoint Communications Systems (LMCS) in the 28 GHz Range: Policy, Authorization Procedures and Evaluation Criteria (available at http://www.ic.gc.ca/spectrum). Note: This and other Industry Canada documents noted in this consultation paper are available at the above-mentioned website.

² Industry Canada, (February 1996), Review of the Comparative Selection and Radio Licensing Process: Findings.

³ Treasury Board, (April 1997) Cost-Recovery and Charging Policy.

⁴ Available at http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf01435.html.

⁵ Spectrum Policy and Licensing Considerations, Fixed Radio Systems in the 23 GHz and 38 GHz Frequency Bands (SP 23/38 GHz), September 1996.

⁶ Industry Canada, (September 1996), SP 23/38 GHz: Spectrum Policy and Licensing Considerations, Fixed Radio Systems in the 23 GHz and 38 GHz Frequency Bands.

⁷ Paired blocks A/A', B/B', L/L', M/M', and N/N' are currently available for licensing point-to-point systems on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional paired blocks may become available in the near future depending upon the frequency block structure adopted by the Department as a result of this consultation process.

⁸ Refer to Options 1 and 2 in section 3.1.2.

⁹ The principles that apply to merger analysis are also pertinent to the analysis regarding bidder eligibility restrictions and spectrum aggregation limits. See the document Merger Enforcement Guidelines, (January 24, 1997) for the framework used by the Competition Bureau for analyzing competition within a market (available at http://www.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ct01264e.html).

¹⁰ The frequency bands may be adjusted depending on the outcome of this consultation paper.

¹¹ "affiliate" is defined in the same manner as in subsection 35(3) of the Telecommunications Act; viz. "…a person who controls the carrier, or who is controlled by the carrier or by any person who controls the carrier."

¹² Available on the Department's Strategis Web site http://www.ic.gc.ca/spectrum

¹³ There are 59 service areas in Tier 3. The largest is Toronto with a population of 5,146,581. The smallest is Cobourg with a population of 57,326.

¹⁴ The 200 MHz Spectrum Licence may not be available depending upon the outcome of this consultation paper. (See section 3.1.2.)

¹⁵ More detailed information on these new procedures for transferring licences will be available in a Client Procedures Circular (CPC) to be published in the near future. Interested parties may wish to check the Department's web-site (http://www.ic.gc.ca/spectrum) for updates.

¹⁶ It should be noted that any licence transfer could also be subject to the provisions of the Competition Act.

¹⁷ Spectrum Grid cells are defined in the Industry Canada (Spectrum Management) Client Procedures Circular 2-1-16 (CPC-2-1-16), Licensing Procedure for Local Multipoint Communications Systems (LMCS), (February 1, 1997), available on the Strategis Web site at http://www.ic.gc.ca/spectrum. Spectrum Grid cells are six-sided figures with an area of 25 km that fit together in an interlocking pattern over the geography of Canada.

¹⁸ Industry Canada (June 24, 1995), Environmental Process, Radiofrequency Fields and Land-Use Consultation (CPC-2-0-03).

¹⁹ This document is available on the Department's Strategis web site: http://www.ic.gc.ca/spectrum.

²⁰ This condition is dependent on the outcome of consultation for Section 4.6. Implementation of Services.

²¹ The Department has found in the past that the publication of a simple list of interested parties early in the licensing process has been helpful to some smaller players who may wish to investigate the formation of a lawful strategic alliance with others. A "Notification of Interest" would consist of nothing more than basic identifiers such as the name, address and phone number of the interested party.

²² It should be noted that prospective bidders may be required to make full disclosure of any communications, agreements, arrangements or affiliations which they have entered into with any other potential bidder regarding the auction in question.

²³ For example, suppose that a bidder wished to be able to bid on licence X (two points), licence Y (three points), and licence Z (five points). This bidder could ask to have up to ten points-worth of initial eligibility. If the bidder knew that it would not wish to be actively bidding on all three licences at the same time, it might choose to have a lower level of initial eligibility, for example eight points, and thus be required to submit a smaller pre-auction financial deposit.

²⁴ Since bid levels would increase each round by only the established increment, bidders will be able to exactly forecast the maximum possible values that the price for any particular licence could reach by the end of the currently announced schedule. The bid schedule will be regularly updated so that bidders will always be able to make rolling forecasts for, for example, one or two weeks in advance.

²⁵ Under the non-discretionary bidding scenario, all bids on the same licence in a given round would, of course, be tie bids. It was proposed that the first bidder (all bids would be electronically time-stamped as they were received) to place a bid on a licence be given the status of standing high bidder on that licence for the next round. Other administrations have used the same tie-breaking rule with discretionary bidding, but the incidence of tie bids under that scenario has tended to be quite low.

²⁶ It is worth noting, however, that unless the difference between two bidders' valuations for a licence is so small as to fall within the margin of a single bid increment, the relative speed of bidders' computers or telecommunications links will be a non-factor. As bid levels rise, the bidder with the lower valuation will drop out, allowing the bidder with the higher valuation to win at a price just above the lower bidder's drop-out point.

²⁷ The 800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio Service (SMR) Phase 1 (Upper 10MHz Block) auction which closed on December 8, 1997 featured non-discretionary, also referred to as "click-box", bidding.

²⁸ This was the Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) auction which closed on March 25, 1998.

²⁹ See discussion of bidder eligibility points in section 6.2.1 of this document.

³⁰ See the discussion of withdrawal and forfeiture penalties in section 6.2 of this document.

³¹ As per subsection 5(1)(1.3) of the Radiocommunication Act.

³² The frequency bands may be adjusted depending on the outcome of this consultation paper.

³³ Paired Blocks J/J' and K/K' may not be available for point-to-point systems on a first-come first-served basis depending on the outcome of this consultation process.

³⁴ For this table and all subsequent tables 'Population' refers to the population of the service area based on the 1996 Census.