Canadian mobile start-up operator DAVE Wireless yesterday announced plans to launch in Toronto this spring via new brand name Mobilicity. Focusing on “simple, value-packed unlimited plans,” Toronto’s deployment will be followed with service in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa later this year. Smartphones from vendors such as RIM and Nokia, without any contracts, will be offered.

The HSPA network is being built by Ericsson, whilst the operator has a domestic network roaming agreement with Rogers and a US roaming deal with T-Mobile USA to enhance coverage. DAVE Wireless was one of several new mobile start-ups that acquired so-called Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum in Canada in an auction in 2008. The operator paid CAD243.16 million for licenses in ten of the country’s 13 largest markets. In December 2009 DAVE announced it had raised US$75 million in additional capital from a group of Canadian institutional investors, following a US$125 million deal through ING Bank only two months earlier. Rival startup Globalive launched in Canada at the end of last year. The country’s mobile market is currently dominated by incumbents Bell, Rogers and Telus.