Public Mobile currently operates in Toronto and Montreal, using the once unwanted G-Block spectrum. During the 2008 wireless auction Public invested $52 million which gave them coverage between from Windsor to Quebec City. Back in April of last year Public Mobile made it known that their “Long term plan is to move to LTE along with the rest of the world so our network is being built with that in mind”.
Today, Sprint announced plans to rollout their LTE network over the next couple years, investing upwards of $10 billion, and deploying it on the G-block spectrum. Several LTE-capable devices and tablets will be released and it seems Public Mobile could benefit from this too. In a press release today Public stated that this move by Sprint is “will have a positive spin-off effect for Public Mobile and its customers… Sprint’s announcement that it will launch 10 to 15 LTE devices next year changes the handset ecosystem and will give Public Mobile customers access to a much broader selection of devices as a result. The handset market is now wide open”.
This actually amazing news for Public and their customers, mainly because they have been sitting on less than popular brand name handsets. With this news they not only increase the value of their spectrum, but will potentially bring on better brands and more powerful devices… all at a low-cost. This is a very positive note and I’m sure the execs and investors at Public are incredibly thrilled about their $52 million investment.
There is no confirmation on when Public will go forward on LTE, but Brian O’Shaughnessy, CTO of Public said this “will aid in Public Mobile’s move to LTE when the time is right.”
Source: MarketWire
