Xplornet Acquires Spectrum in 600 MHz Auction

WOODSTOCK, NB – Xplornet Communications Inc., Canada’s largest rural-focused broadband service provider, today announced the purchase of four 600 MHz licences that will enable the company to continue to innovate and deliver affordable, unlimited wireless broadband to rural Canadians.

The low-band spectrum covers Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and was acquired by Xplornet for $35.8 million. Xplornet intends to use this spectrum primarily in its fixed broadband business to enhance its service in these provinces.

“Acquiring licensed low-band spectrum is an important next step in our plan to advance the availability of reliable broadband services to rural Canadians,” says Tim Dinesen, Chief Technology Officer at Xplornet. “We have made significant investments in our broadband network in recent years and are excited to put this 600 MHz spectrum to work, complementing our current 3500 MHz licensed holdings, in service of our customers.”

The 600 MHz band is one of a number of bands that will be deployed to deliver 5G services. 600 MHz spectrum carries signals over long distances, making it well-suited to deliver services in rural Canada.

With this purchase, Xplornet holds licensed spectrum in the 3500 MHz, 2500 MHZ, 600 MHz, 700 MHz and AWS-1 bands. The 600 MHz spectrum auction conducted by Innovation, Science and Economic Development began on March 10, 2019 and concluded on April 4, 2019.

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