Why Canadian mobile users should care about the spectrum auction

There are probably a lot of Canadians who just aren’t that interested in the rhetoric, the politics and the regulatory issues surrounding the current 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction, but that could change the next time a call on their smartphone ends unexpectedly.

What must seem like a strange sort of gold-rush type mentality among telecom companies over something fairly ephemeral -- airwaves, basically -- is really about fulfilling the promise of anytime, anywhere computing that the technology industry has been making for decades. Though some people seem to be constantly calling, texting or using apps, we all know some boundaries remain. “I may lose you,” we warn, if we’re talking on the phone and we step on an elevator, or go down into a basement. The 700 MHz spectrum up for grabs is about not having to make such preemptive apologies.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is usually credited for describing the 700 MHz band as the “beachfront property” of wireless spectrum, but that’s not really the best metaphor. The 700 MHz band might be better conceived as the ghostly airwaves that can move through walls. It’s not necessarily faster than 1,700 MHz spectrum, but it can be cheaper to deploy over long distances.

According to Roberta Fox, a telecom industry consultant based in Mt. Albert, Ont., 700 MHz wireless could offer a huge benefit to businesses that want to make their employees more productive, especially if they’re not working at the office.

“A growing mobile workforce is key to most Canadian businesses’ future direction,” she said. “All of these next-generation solutions involve mobility and wireless broadband transport of some type, whether it’s public Wi-Fi, 3G/4G, and to operate on smart phones, tablets or laptops.”

You can also expect to see 700 MHz extend the time spent in apps like casual mobile games such as Candy Crush Saga, which many people play while waiting in lineups or commuting. The same goes for messaging apps like BlackBerry’s BBM.

Perhaps the biggest potential for 700 MHz wireless, however, will be in the way it allows more companies to offer contextual digital experiences. In other words, the biggest hope a lot of firms have around mobile computing is the idea that they can send marketing messages or provide services that show a consumer that they understand his or her particular needs or preferences. One way to do that is to collect a lot of data about an individual’s past transactions or demographic information, but that sometimes raises privacy concerns.

The other way to provide more relevant information is by knowing where users are. Location-based services are popping up in retail, entertainment and many other sectors, and with 700 MHz spectrum, they’ll be better able to track location data (for those willing to allow it) better than ever before.

There has been a great deal of disappointment that this wireless spectrum auction is unlikely to produce any real new competitors to the incumbent carriers. But there’s still room for Canadian innovation to emerge from unexpected places. It won’t be on the networks that gain 700 MHz spectrum, but the technologies that get created to run on them.