Wind Mobile: Competition is benefitting Canadians but Rogers wants to end all the progress we’ve made
Today, Wind Mobile chairman Anthony Lacavera his less-than-warm feelings for Big Three telco Rogers and its effort to kill competition in Canada’s wireless mobile industry.
Anthony refers to Rogers’ website that asks Canadians to sign a petition for a “fair and open” spectrum auction, in which the Rogers, Telus, and Bell could buy up the new spectrum (they couldn’t in the auction that created Wind, Public Mobile, and Mobilicity). But “Tony” doesn’t see it this way.
What they are really saying is, “Please make sure all this competition we‘ve had to deal with doesn’t last too long, we want to go back to the good old days as soon as possible.” I guess they figured no one would sign that one, so they put it another way.
The snide remarks don’t end there. Anthony states that “the reality is that Rogers, Bell and Telus have more spectrum than they know what to do with”—and he isn’t exaggerating much. Wind’s chairman points out that if the Big Three could buy spectrum, they would buy it all—the startups wouldn’t stand a chance financially.
Rogers president of communications Rob Bruce spoke at the ess than 2 out of 5 stars of approval, implying that consumers don’t buy it.
Anthony counters Rogers’ notion bluntly:
It is always worth more to an oligopoly to protect its turf against vigorous and effective competition than it is to new entrants seeking to go up against them. … This is why the stakes are so high. The incumbents believe this is a war of attrition and are trying to wait out the new players so they can re-establish their pricing, terms and service levels without losing subscribers.
Anthony affirms that “the bottom line is competition is working.” He notes that “over the last two years, prices for both voice and data service have fallen dramatically and consumers are now enjoying more competition and value than ever before.”
And this auction will determine whether or not it remains that way.