Mobile technology is critical to the productivity of businesses, public services, and to more than 30 million Canadians that use mobile data as part of their daily lives, from banking on-the-go to maps, shopping, streaming and more. Canadians benefited greatly from the '4G era', enjoying some of the fastest LTE speeds worldwide.Decisions being made today will determine how much Canadians will benefit from the next generation of wireless services. 5G is enabling innovative new services across industries, including the creation of smart cities, advanced robotic applications for manufacturing and remote solutions for health and agriculture. A study by GSMA Intelligence found that 5G will deliver $150 billion USD in additional value added to Canada's GDP over the next 20 years. Spectrum policy will play a leading role in its success.Radio spectrum - the invisible waves that enable wireless technology - is a valuable, finite resource. The recent consultation on the critical auction for the 3800 MHz band by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) will impact almost every Canadian over the next two decades. It is therefore important for Canadians to consider what ISED's proposals mean for them.5G requires sufficient and affordable spectrumHaving the right amount of mid-band spectrum is necessary to reap the full benefits of 5G. In July 2021, Canada assigned 200 MHz of 3500 MHz spectrum, well below the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) recommendation of at least 100 MHz of contiguous spectrum per operator and less mid-band spectrum than most other OECD countries. Restricted supply led to           the highest spectrum prices in the world – more than 160% the average price paid in the US and 10 times higher than France and the UK.Empirical studies show that policies that reduce the amount of spectrum available to operators and increase the cost of spectrum      result in slower roll-out of next generation mobile technologies and slower speeds. Unfortunately, Canada is seeing this play out. By not aligning with international best practices in spectrum policy, Canada will lose out on more than $30 billion USD in additional GDP growth.A lack of sufficient and affordable spectrum can also lead to less coverage, which is especially likely to impact broadband connectivity in rural locations. This is already a key challenge in rural Canada, where virtually all the 190,000 Canadians that do not have access to a 4G network live. With an enabling policy environment and spectrum framework, the deployment of 5G-based fixed wireless access could significantly improve broadband access in rural areas with faster speeds.ISED's 3800 MHz consultation – moving in the right directionEncouragingly, ISED has suggested proposals that could move Canada away from policies that hinder the roll-out and quality of 5G services. This includes replacing set-asides. Canada has been the only country routinely to set aside spectrum for smaller operators, limiting the amount of spectrum available to the larger operators. Such measures lead to inefficient spectrum use, higher costs and lower quality of service.By contrast, in this consultation, ISED is considering adopting a simple cap on the amount of spectrum each operator can acquire. This is a significant step forward, as ISED  can preserve competition without the disastrous side-effects associated with set-asides. There should be no doubt, however, that the best way for Governments to promote competition is by making as much affordable spectrum available as possible for operators that build networks.Furthermore, ISED has proposed deployment conditions for spectrum licenses which – alongside spectrum from earlier auctions – will result in mid-band spectrum deployment to around 98% of Canadians over the lifetime of the licenses. These coverage conditions are linked to the policy objective to enable deployment of 5G in rural and remote areas. Nonetheless, strict license obligations are not always the most effective policy tool to improve rural coverage. Measures that improve the commercial viability of extending coverage may be more effective than seeking to enforce licence obligations. For example, countries such as France and the UK are targeting investment in rural and remote areas by reducing spectrum costs.Many of the proposals set out by ISED are a significant step in the right direction. If the upcoming           auction enables Canada's national operators to access sufficient amounts of contiguous mid-band spectrum at affordable prices, it should go some way towards enabling the timely deployment of high quality 5G networks, especially in rural areas,  and sustaining competition in Canada.Kalvin Bahia, Principal Economist is GSMA Intelligence