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The War for Canada’s Wireless Customers

July 24, 2009 10:30 am By 7 Comments

When it comes to a competitive marketplace for wireless in Canada, there has been a serious void for many years. Bell, Telus, and Rogers have managed to keep prices high, contracts long, and light on choice. It got so bad that Canada decided to restrict the big 3 from bidding on the new spectrum that was auctioned off last year. It was made available to new companies that are looking to setup camp here in Canada.

Sadly, winning that auction doesn’t mean you’re going to be greeted with open arms. Telus (along with Bell and Rogers) are now taking action to slow the introduction of another wireless carrier. Its to the point now that they are accusing Globalive of cheating the Canadian ownership requirements.

This article, over on the National Post, outlines what Canadians have had to deal with for far too long – high prices for little services. I’m less than thrilled to read that wireless penetration has actually dropped in recent years. Then again, how surprised can one be when carriers are offering 3 year contracts and still charging top dollar for their devices. To be fair, once the wireless auction was completed last year, the big 3 did start to improve their prices and customer support. Has true competition scared them into changing or would these changes have happened regardless? Either way, it’s going to be interesting to watch things play out over the next 6 months.

About Mike Temporale

Mike Temporale has written 498 posts on Mobile Jaw..

Mike Temporale grew up fascinated by computers since an early age. His first hands on with a computer came when he was 7 years old and a travelling lab of Commodore PET computers made a stop at his school. Hooked on the new world these devices offered, he took any chance possible to get in front of a computer. When Compaq launched the iPaq 3600, he was hooked again. This time on a whole new world of mobile computing. Today, Mike spends his day helping clients deploy and manage their mobile device around the world. From installing custom software, to locking and securing data, and everything in between. He is also the Editor in Chief at Mobile Jaw - a site focused on today's mobile world.

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  • http://www.twitter.com/DarrenHumphries Darren Humphries

    It’s a well written response to this action. It certainly does seem like a stall tactic on the part of Telus (perhaps at the behest of Bell and Rogers?).

    Here is my favourite part of the article:

    “Canada’s wireless industry is one of the weakest in the developed world. Merrill Lynch ranks current Canadian wireless penetration at 65% – just ahead of Indonesia and Iraq – but dead last among 22 developed countries. Similarly, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has tracked a steady decline in Canada’s wireless penetration rank: from 35th in 1998 to 128th in 2008.”

    Things have gotten down right horrible with cellular in Canada. It’s like the incumbents have a strangle hold on Canadian consumers and there is no one that can help us. Has the CRTC become a plaything for the cellular Goliaths? Kind of looks that way.

    So, what can we do about? Nothing. There are still no alternatives for us; all we can do is wait for competition to come to the rescue. Of course, when they are being stalled like this…it doesn’t look good for our choices.

  • http://twitter.com/mobilejaw/status/2819271331 MobileJaw

    The War for Canada’s Wireless Customers – http://tinyurl.com/mx9wgm

  • http://twitter.com/darrenhumphries/status/2819855371 Darren Humphries

    RT @MobileJaw: "The War for Canada’s Wireless Customers – http://tinyurl.com/mx9wgm"

  • http://www.pharfruminsain.com Peter Temporale

    I heard that Bell bought Virgin Mobile. That seems so strange because 1) Why would that Branson guy sell it?, and 2) Doesn’t that reduce the competition?

  • http://www.twitter.com/DarrenHumphries Darren Humphries

    No idea why he would sell it, unless he just want making the margins he wanted. VM Canada was only just a sub carrier using Bell’s backend, so it actually didn’t drastically change competition.

  • http://www.MobileJaw.com Mike Temporale

    @Peter – Branson also sold Virgin in the US. Not sure why – my only guess is that it is related to the economy.

  • http://www.twitter.com/DarrenHumphries Darren Humphries

    Most likely he sold them cause he wants to use the money for something with better margins; plain and simple.