Nudge-nudge, wink-wink: wireless 'competition' in Canada

Late Note, first: After I wrote the following blog, the federal Minister of Industry absolutely gobsmacked me by reversing the CRTC decision preventing Globealive from becoming Canada's fourth major wireless competitor. How about them Conservatives? Let me see, the last time they got something this right was.....


Here's a belly-laugh for you, the first sentence on the CRTC's web site: The CRTC does not regulate the rates, quality of service or business practices of wireless service providers because the market for wireless services is sufficiently competitive.

Competitive, my petard!

The average Canadian pays something like 60% more for wireless service than US customers do, and even US customers pay a lot more than people in Europe and many, many third world countries.

In the US, you can get an unlimited data plan for an iPhone 3GS from AT&T for $30 a month. In Canada, it's $75 for 2 GB per month (with a 500 free weekday minutes plan – which any businessperson would exhaust in a couple of weeks, only to pay another $175 for the balance of the month PLUS long distance. AT&T offers an unlimited voice and unlimited long distance plan for just $99).

Funny, given all this competition that there is supposed to be in Canada, none of our big three wireless companies (Bell, Telus and Rogers) seem to be competing on price. Their wireless plans are all different, only same.

Which brings me to an upstart called Globealive. It's the brainchild of a young Central Canadian entrepreneur who saw that there is a great market in Canada for a price-competitive wireless company, found investment capital from a really rich Egyptian who runs successful, efficient, competitive wireless companies all over the world and used the money to win the auction for the last remaining significant share of the wireless band in Canada.

Anthony Lacavara then twiddled with the company's structure in an attempt to conform to CRTC rules about Canadian ownership of telecommunications. He arranged it so while the company may have been financed by an Egyptian, it was controlled by Canadians. The CRTC, nevertheless, ruled Globealive still contravened ownership regulations.

Now Telus, Bell and Rogers have appealed to Industry Minister Tony Clement not to accede to Globealive's application to overturn the CRTC ruling.

They're blowing all kinds of smoke in the direction of the flag, but anyone who's dealt with the biggies as a customer knows the real message – don't screw with the world's most profitable wireless industry; don't force us to respond to a lower-priced competitor. Bottom line: don't do anything to help Canadians pay lots less for wireless service.

The irony of this is unbelievable...all these proponents of free market competition using patriotism to shield their full intention to continue bleeding us of every dollar they can squeeze.

Tony Clement, when he decides, as I fully expect he will, that the CRTC decision will stand, will be the biggest hypocrite of all. The voice of the Conservatives' free market philosophy will kow-tow to mightiest and most influential of our free market business community, and in so doing will limit competition to the wink-wink, nudge-nudge crowd and indirectly cost average Canadians – whom the government is elected to protect – untold billions of dollars that could otherwise go to food, housing, education, shelter and the like.

I was eagerly awaiting Globealive's roll-out. I would have switched from Bell in a flash as would, I believe, hundreds of thousands of others.

Now, yet again, I and they wait for a Conservative hypocrite to make a decision, then spin it so what's black (political power used to limit competition and enhance corporate profit) looks white (protecting us from the evil foreigners).

The more I think about it, the more I wish I spoke Norwegian.