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By Randall Palmer and Alastair Sharp OTTAWA/TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian telecom companies paid a record C$5.27 billion ($4.78 billion) in an auction to secure licenses for prime airwaves, the federal government said on Wednesday, as a new national challenger looks set to emerge from Quebec. The biggest national players – Rogers Communications, BCE Incs Bell, and Telus Corp – grabbed the lions share of the 700 megahertz spectrum, on which they plan to build more powerful wireless network. But it was the arrival of broader wireless ambitions for Quebecor Incs Videotron that created the biggest splash, as the regional cable and wireless company expanded its reach outside its mostly French-speaking home base in Quebec. Quebecor paid C$233 million for airwaves in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as Quebec.