A Canadian spectrum auction exceeded the government’s expectation today when bids hit about $2.4 billion during the second week. The government was expecting to raise up to $1.5 billion in the auction, which is expected to last another couple of weeks, reported cbcnews. The is an interesting one to follow because it appears to be conducted much differently than the recent auction in the U.S., which raised $19.6 billion and in which Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) was the big winner.

For one, the bidding is not anonymous. CBC reported that Calgary-based Shaw Communications, a cable TV and high-speed Internet provider, was leading on Monday, with high bids on 36 of the 292 licenses up for auction. The company has not said what it plans doing with any spectrum it may win. In second, was Montreal-based Quebecor Inc. with 23 high bids. The company said before the auction said it was interested in building a nationwide network, although currently holds most of the high bids in Quebec.

The second noticeable difference in the auction is the government has a clear intention of creating a new wireless entrant. In the last U.S. auction, there were certain rules set up to encourage bidding by new entrants, but it didn’t work out that way with most of the big winners being incumbents. To encourage a new cellphone provider, the Canadian government is reserving 40 percent of the spectrum for them to bid on, meaning that Canada’s big three incumbents — Rogers Communications, Bell Canada and Telus — cannot bid on those airwaves. The remaining 60 percent of the airwaves are open to all bidders. In total, 105 MHz of radio spectrum is being sold.