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Canadian Wireless Spectrum Auction slowly continues to increase each round and the same 5 players continue to be in the top 5: Rogers, Telus, Bell, Quebecor and Globalive. The total for Round 51 is at $3,544,420,961

Minister of Industry Jim Prentice and the Minister of Canadian Heritage Josée Verner are unveiling the bill to amend the Copyright Act on Thursday at 10:45 a.m. They are looking to introduce “harsh new restrictions” on downloading, copying songs to CDs and music players, unlocking cellphones and time-shifting of television shows.

Round 50 of the Canadian Wireless Spectrum Auction has the total at $3,532,913,961 with DAVE back in action and Globalive and Quebecor

When the iPhone comes to Canada it comes in full force! Fido has now officially come out and decided to launch the 3G iPhone on July 11th also. It will be available in black and in white – A price plan has also been released: iPhone 3G will be available for $199 for the 8Gb model and $299 for the 16Gb model on a three-year price plan.

More details of the Canadian launch of the iPhone here

Rogers Wireless owns Fido, and Rob Bruce, President, Rogers Wireless said “Fido services and devices suit our customers’ urban lifestyles, so iPhone 3G is the perfect fit for Canadians looking to be fashionable like this amazing wireless device. As the brand voted number one in wireless customer satisfaction, we are thrilled to provide our customers with the device that ranked the highest in customer satisfaction from a wireless cellular manufacturer.”

SaskTel today (June 12th, 2008) celebrates its 100th birthday and a website has been made to reflect their history

Nortel Networks will focus its attention of LTE and will partner with Alvarion Ltd. to strengthen its position in WiMax. LTE or “long-term evolution” provides a faster Web browsing and download experience over mobile phones and other wireless devices

Ottawa South MP David McGuinty introduced Bill C-555 last week, otherwise known as the “Get Connected Fairly Act”. We spoke with him about his objectives and why he is so passionate to have this bill passed and how he needs your help to make it happen.

If you’re one of the millions of Canadians who have a cellphone and pay a monthly system access fee, are confused and frustrated about your monthly bill – you might want to consider listening to our conversation and possibly signing his petition.

Mr. McGuinty wants to help Canadians get good value for their money, have the cell phone companies be transparent when it comes to fees and reduce the confusion when it comes to contracts.

Video is below and here are some quotes:
- “Why are we paying 50%-60% more than our counterparts in the Unites States?”
- “There is alot of abuse out there and the (cell phone carriers) are praying on confusion, they are banking on confusion.”
- “We should improve the way services are being offered.”
- “I want the System Access Fees banned, I want the 911 charges banned, I want overage, data surcharges banned, and I want people to know exactly what they are buying.”

(There is a longer version of this interview located here)

Link to MP David McGuinty Bill C-555: “Get Connected Fairly Act” Petition

The Canadian New Media Awards recognize and celebrates the accomplishments in the Canadian new media industry. Now in the 8th year, they have released this years finalists and there are a few notable in the mobile space:

EXCELLENCE IN CROSS PLATFORM:
Mobile Stories, iThentic – Toronto, ON
http://www.mobilestories.ca/

MOST PROMISING COMPANY OF THE YEAR:
Filemobile, Toronto, ON
http://www.filemobile.com/

Viigo, Toronto, ON
http://viigo.com/home/

The actual event will be happening in October 2008 in Toronto.

Learn more here

The Canadian Wireless Auction ends the day at $3,521,806,112 with Rogers, Telus, Bell, Quebecor and Globalive rounding out the top 5 (Round 49)

Round 48: Canadian Wireless Spectrum Auction at $3,509,555,218!