Remember the joy that the AWS auctions brought us? The thrills, chills, intrigue, and ultimately the huge dollars that were raked in by the FCC? Well, grab your popcorn an' soda because the stage is being set for the same brouhaha in Canada. The Honorable Maxime Bernier – the Minister of Industry announced the launch of a public consultation on a framework for said auction in the 2 GHz band (read: Advanced Wireless Services). In total, 105 MHz of bandwidth will be available for auction; to put that in perspective – the AWS auction was for 1122 licenses covering an 90 MHz chunk of 3G spectrum, this auction will be for more spectrum, with an unknown quantity of licenses and far fewer subscribers. Bear in mind, this is only a consultation and is the first in many steps before this auction is truly ready to start. This could be terribly slow going because in Canada, we live for committees, consultations, and inquiries. If the event is anything like the 161-round nail biter covered in the late summer – you can be 100 percent sure that we will not be there covering any of the action.

[Via HowardForums]