On February 09, 2026, TELUS went on to announce the acquisition of new 3800 MHz spectrum licenses in B.C. as well as Alberta, costing $317.6 million. These licences, which were purchased during the residual auction by ISED – are going to enable TELUS to roll out enhanced 5G wireless broadband connectivity for all its customers and are going to continue to optimize network speeds, which the Canadians have come to expect.
According to Darren Entwistle, TELUS President and CEO, “In alignment with our commitment to always be building Canada, the acquisition and deployment of this spectrum will further enhance the advancement of our 5G growth strategy and the globally leading network quality, speed and coverage we provide to Canadians,” further adding “Importantly, this spectrum will complement TELUS’ existing holdings to support emerging 5G applications that our team is progressing and that enable mission critical applications with dedicated and secure resources, such as public safety advanced communications, industry automation and private wireless networks, as well as real-time, high availability services for AI applications. Indeed, as the demand for wireless data continues to grow, the acquisition of additional 3800 MHz spectrum will maximize our network capacity and enable TELUS to deliver enhanced urban and rural connectivity to our customers. In addition to allowing us to invest in strategic growth within B.C. and Alberta, TELUS’ investment reflects our commitment to fiscal discipline, as the acquisition of these valuable spectrum assets is consistent with our capital plan. Importantly, there will be no impact to our deleveraging plan, with 2025 net debt to adjusted EBITDA currently at 3.4 times, as we aim to reach circa 3.3 times or lower by year-end 2026 and 3.0 times or better by the end of 2027.”
It is well to be noted that the Residual Spectrum auction was put in place to sell spectrum that apparently went on to remain unsold from the past auctions, with the majority of this leftover spectrum based out of B.C. and Alberta. Among all the participants from the auction, TELUS went on to successfully obtain the most spectrum, and that too at an attractive price.
This acquisition of new 3800 MHz spectrum licenses goes on to position TELUS as an industry leader, having an average of 104 MHz of prime 5G mid-band spectrum in 3500 and 3800 MHz bands across the country, acquired at an average price of $0.82 per MHz-pop. This is apparently going to further support the efforts put in by TELUS so as to always build Canada.
Notably, the 3800 MHz band is regarded as a mid-range spectrum, which in a way has become a critical global band when it comes to 5G innovation, since it offers the best mix of speed because of its wide channels and coverage. Interestingly, its frequency can also support massive numbers of mobile data connections and at the same time also cover large areas, therefore making it pretty highly conducive as far as 5G deployment is concerned.