Canada’s cell phone market is getting heated. The big three Canadian telecom companies, Rogers, BCE and Telus, have enjoyed an 85% monopoly of the existing available wireless spectrum infrastructure, but that may be about to change.
Verizon on the horizon
Verizon, the US telecom giant, is rumoured to be interested in buying one of Canada’s struggling smaller companies, Wind or Mobilicity. And the possibility has the big three defending Canadians in a public relations campaign that appears to be backfiring.
A board member of BCE has gone so far as to chastize Industry Minister James Moore, for not knowing enough to be able to make changes to the status quo.
Canada was once the envy of the world for its telephone service. Homes and businesses were equipped and the infrastructure was maintained at a reasonable rate for most Canadians.
But with the dawn of the cell phone, everything changed. In the early days the three big wireless companies asked to be able to grow without regulation, to get themselves established.
This led to one of the most expensive cell-phone markets in the world, with poor customer service often reported, very little choice and areas of the country still waiting for service.
In February, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) held a hearing on cell phone service.
Open Media,an advocacy group, presented what nearly 58,000 Canadians had conveyed about their cell phone experiences.
The CRTC heard about problems with perpetual contracts based on upgrading the device within a three-year term, which locked the consumer in for another three years.
Astronomical roaming fees consumers were obliged to pay no matter what the circumstances. Stolen cell phones left owners obliged to pay for international calls they did not make, and this despite immediately reporting the cell phone stolen. And all of this accompanied by indifferent or rude customer service.
The commission instituted a Code of Conduct for wireless companies bringing 3 year contracts down to two, making it easier to switch to another more affordable provider, and imposing caps on roaming fees.
In order to increase competition, the CRTC is not allowing the big three companies to bid on all of the spectrum in an auction to be held in January.
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