In “Policy and Licensing Framework for Spectrum in the 3800 MHz Band” Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) adopted a band plan that will make the 3800 MHz band available for auction in 25 unpaired 10 MHz blocks as shown in figure 1 (250 MHz in total). This band plan would support technologies such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and 5G New Radio (NR) equipment to operate using a 10 MHz channel bandwidth. These 10 MHz blocks can be aggregated to create larger bandwidths for broadband applications.
For the 3800 MHz auction, ISED will implement pro-competitive measures in the form of a 100 MHz cross-band cap across the 3500 MHz and 3800 MHz bands. The cross-band cap will apply to the total of a licensee’s 3500 MHz and 3800 MHz spectrum licences for a period of five years starting from the initial licence issuance date of the 3800 MHz licences.
In licence areas where a licensee already holds 3500 MHz spectrum licences equal to or in excess of the spectrum cap, such a licensee will not be eligible to bid for additional licences in the 3800 MHz band auction in those service areas but will not be required to divest any 3500 MHz licences in order to fall within the spectrum cap. For this measure, licences held by any affiliate of the licensee would count as part of the cross-band cap.
All 3800 MHz licences issued through this competitive licensing process will be based on Tier 4 service areas. The term of this licence is 20 years, and the licensee will have a high expectation that a new licence will be issued for a subsequent term through a renewal process unless a breach of licence condition has occurred, a fundamental reallocation of spectrum to a new service is required, or an overriding policy need arises.
Deadline for receipt of applications to participate in the auction and 100% pre-auction financial deposit is 12:00 noon EDT on July 25, 2023.
For all key dates refer here: