As the Competition Bureau seeks to block Rogers Communications’ takeover of Shaw Communications, fearing the $26 billion deal will reduce competition in wireless, some industry watchers say steps are yet to be taken. bolder moves are needed to provide more options to Canadian consumers.
Posted at 2:08 p.m.
According to Thomas Ross, a professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, the fact that Canada is a large and expensive country to operate networks, with a low population density, makes it there will always be limits to telecommunications options.
The federal government could, however, take certain steps to stimulate competition in the Canadian telecommunications industry, he believes, such as letting foreign wireless companies do business in Canada, whether it is an international company who takes control of a regional player to make it grow or who settles in the country to build his own network from scratch.
Mr. Ross also believes that the federal government could force Canada’s telecommunications giants to sell access to their networks at much more favorable prices to facilitate the growth of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), who buy network service. major operators at a wholesale rate.
However, he notes that these strategies could be difficult for the government to fully integrate.
TekSavvy Solutions, an independent phone and internet provider in Chatham, Ontario, says the federal government needs to go further and “clean up” the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), revamp the competition and allow better application of these laws.