Toronto entrepreneur John Bitove has been tight-lipped about his wireless plans. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Entrepreneur John Bitove, the man who founded the Toronto Raptors and who brought XM Satellite Radio to Canada, has moved a step closer to launching a cellphone service with the announcement of a management team to head his venture.

Bitove on Thursday officially named David Dobbin, former head of Toronto Hydro's telecommunications arm, to head up his cellphone company, Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless Inc.

"David is a proven leader with an impressive track record that makes him ideally suited to lead our entry into the Canadian wireless market," Bitove said in a statement. "After an extensive search in Canada and abroad, we are convinced that David's background and entrepreneurial style will ensure we build the best company possible."

Bitove, who owns a string of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants and who headed Toronto's bid for the 2008 Olympics, has been tight-lipped about his wireless plans since spending more than $243 million on spectrum licences in this summer's auction. His 10 licences cover 16 million people and include much of southern Ontario, as well as key Western cities Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria.

Dobbin, who headed Toronto Hydro Telecom until it was sold to Cogeco Cable Inc. in June, declined to be interviewed on Thursday, citing the fact that his switch in employers was not yet complete.

Before the auction, which ran for much of the summer, Dobbin was critical of existing cellphone carriers Bell Canada Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. for overpriced services. He was a proponent of creating special rules that favoured new entrants, which is exactly what the government did when it reserved 40 per cent of the auction airwaves for companies that were not yet in the market.

Most of the big auction winners have already announced plans for services. Toronto-based Globalive Communications Inc., which operates under the Yak brand, in September said it would have a national network — with the exception of Quebec — featuring low-cost services up in the second half of 2009.

Montreal-based Quebecor Inc. has said its Vidéotron unit will launch service in Quebec in the same time frame. BMV Holdings, an independent company backed by several private equity companies, is planning a low-cost service in Ontario and Quebec, also by the end of next year.

Halifax-based Bragg Communications Inc., which runs cable provider Eastlink, is the only other major auction winner that has yet to announce its wireless plans. The company spent more than $25 million on 19 licences, primarily in Eastern Canada.

"We are still working on our plan for a launch date," said spokeswoman Paula Sibley Fox.

Calgary-based Shaw Communications Inc. is the sole big auction winner to have announced it will not build a cellphone network. The company spent more than $189 million on 18 licences primarily in Western Canada, but in October said it would sit out the cellphone wars for the time being because of poor economic conditions.

Bitove's spectrum licences may enable him to launch a bundle of services that would include satellite radio and potentially high-definition television. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission earlier this year turned down his application to launch an HD over-the-air television network, but Bitove is said to still be interested in the venture.

He also named four other members to his executive team on Thursday. Stewart Lyons, who helped Bitove start XM Canada, was appointed executive vice-president while Sharyn Gravelle, who helped build wireless networks for Rogers, Microcell and Clearnet, was named vice-president of network operations.

Ryan Lausman, who also helped in starting XM, was named vice-president of systems operations and will be responsible for setting up billing and other customer systems. Brandon Alexandroff, who has a background in investment banking, was appointed vice-president of finance.