The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition rural Canadians could be the biggest winners in Ottawa's latest auction of public airwaves, as Xplornet Communications has pledged to increase speeds for people outside urban centres. The Globe's Christine Dobby writes Xplornet paid $25-million to win 42 new licences for the airwaves used to carry wireless signals in an auction for spectrum in the 2,500-megahertz frequency. The federal government announced provisional results Tuesday, revealing the auction raised $755-million, with cellular carriers Telus and Videotron spending the most for new licences at $479-million and $187-million, respectively. Rural Internet providers such as Xplornet can also use the 2,500 MHz airwaves to deliver broadband service to homes and businesses in areas that cannot easily be reached by traditional service over wires. Xplornet plans to offer broadband Internet service with download speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) to 100 per cent of rural Canadians by July, 2017. The company has 280,000 subscribers focused primarily on Southern Ontario, Alberta, Quebec and New Brunswick, but plans to expand in those and other provinces after acquiring this spectrum.