The Canadian government has announced new measures aimed at increasing competition in the mobile market. This will include an auction of 700MHz band licences in November, in which the amount of frequencies each operator can win will be capped so that at least four providers in each region win spectrum. 

The government will also review its rules on spectrum transfers, also with the goal of facilitating at least four providers in each region. A public consultation on this was opened by Industry Canada until 03 May.

Other measures include expanding requirements to offer roaming to competitors to all carriers and encouraging more tower-sharing. Operators will be required to report regularly to Industry Canada on the extent of tower-sharing agreements and negotiations, and if further progress is not seen in the market, the government said it will take additional action on the issue.

Alongside the competition measures, the government released its Commercial Mobile Spectrum Outlook study. This outlines the government's spectrum release plans for the years to come.