Bell, Rogers and Telus bought more than $7.3 billion worth of the wireless-spectrum licences the federal government put up for sale in an auction that concluded July 23. Videotron and Cogeco picked up $1.1 billion worth between them; the rest were largely split among regional telecom providers, assisted by a set-aside provision meant to help upstarts compete against the big players. (The Logic)

Talking point: The licences for spectrum in the 3,500-megahertz range are expected to be used mainly for wireless services that use 5G—high-speed, low-latency data transmission essential for cutting-edge tech like autonomous cars and industrial automation, and blazing-fast smartphone service. In setting up the auction, the federal industry department admitted it simply couldn’t predict what the buyers will use their segments of the airwaves for. But they’re certainly willing to pay for it: this auction brought in more than twice as much as the government’s last auction of 600-megahertz licences.