(Telecompaper) Verizon is putting off the potential acquisition of two small mobile companies in Canada. The US-based communications giant had been looking at buying one or both of Wind Mobile and Mobilicity, two struggling carriers that are for sale. After a CAD 700 million preliminary offer for Wind and signing a non-disclosure agreement with Mobilicity in recent months, Verizon has now decided to delay pursuing those deals until after a government auction of spectrum licences in January 2014, two people familiar with the situation told the Globe and Mail. Instead, Verizon plans to focus on whether to participate in the upcoming auction of the 700 MHz frequencies. If Verizon enters the auction and wins the spectrum it wants, it could then look at potentially bidding for Wind and Mobilicity at some point in 2014, the paper's sources said. Carriers face a 17 September 2013 deadline to apply and to put down a refundable deposit for the spectrum auction. Once the paperwork is filed, however, prospective bidders are barred from negotiating any deals with other bidders until the next year.