You’ve probably heard the sad Rogers/Bell/Telus commercials on the
radio at some point over the last two weeks.
They plead for the public to pressure the Canadian government to allow them to bid on the rumoured Wind takeover in the works.
The big three have also
launched a sleek ‘Fair for Canada’ website that conveniently highlights online articles echoing their thoughts about the Canadian government’s current wireless industry competition policies. The goal of the site is obviously to inform the Canadian public that our government favours allowing giant U.S. corporations (mainly referring to the rumoured Verizon/Wind deal) to enter the Canadian market and allowing them to buy more spectrum than the competition.
The website prominently displays a video of Rogers, Bell and Telus employees, talking about how horrible a potential Verizon takeover of Wind will be for the average Canadian. While a box in the bottom right corner states the individuals speaking in the video are employed by one of the big three, it’s almost like it was misleadingly edited and shot to look like regular Canadians hold these opinions and not telecom employees.
“You know, we teach our kids to play fair. That’s about as Canadian as it gets,” says Samia, a Bell data pricing specialist from Toronto.
The video voices concerns like whether or not Verizon will focus on ensuring smaller Canadian communities have wireless access and emphasises that, due to CRTC restrictions, Rogers, Bell and Telus are unable to bid on Wind, potentially allowing Verizon to purchase Wind for a low price due to the lack of competing bids.
“Sweetheart deals for U.S. giants are a bad call for you,” reads a final statement at the end of the video.
What the website and campaign fails to mention is, for the average Canadian consumer, Verizon moving north of the border will probably mean lower prices across the board for all Canadian wireless customers. While certainly not guaranteed in this case, more competition in any market is rarely a bad thing for consumers.
In some ways, Canadian telecom companies also have a valid point as well. The claim the
‘Fair For Canada’ campaign makes is increased competition could lead to even higher prices and trigger massive lay-offs. The campaign argues that Verizon has no plans to create jobs in Canada and if the Wind buyout occurs, Verizon will be taking advantage of wireless infrastructure Rogers, Bell, Telus and Canadian taxpayers have sunk millions of dollars into, without contributing to its development in any way.
But, to the average Canadian consumer with an $80 monthly smartphone bill, this means nothing. Verizon entering the Canadian marketplace will almost certainly mean lower prices for those customers.
But keep in mind, Wind is not a national provider. Their
coverage areas are limited to Canada’s major cities, with almost nothing but roaming in between. Compared to the big-three wireless providers, their coverage zones are almost embarrassing. If Verizon takes over Wind, they’ll be a niche competitor, aimed at people who never leave their home town.
The big national providers aren’t facing big competition from that proposal. Yet.
Play fair? That's why Americans can't fathom the fact we have 3-year agreements over here. They pay less even when they commit to less years! FOH Lady.