Ottawa Opens Up Canada's Telecom Industry To More Competition

"The amount of spectrum takes into account the need for new entry in all regions of Canada while considering the interests of incumbent operators and their current spectrum holding." To be eligible to compete for bandwidth set aside for new players, companies must currently hold less than 10 per cent of the national wireless market based on revenue. The telecom market is currently dominated by its three biggest players, Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B), Bell Mobility (TSX:BCE) and Telus (TSX:T). Industry watchers say increased competition could help pull down cellphone rates in Canada, which are significantly higher than in either the United States or Europe. New spectrum would also allow carriers - either the new or established players - to provide consumers with more bandwidth-heavy services like high-speed Internet and video streaming on portable devices. At least two companies - Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.B) of Montreal and Winnipeg-based MTS Allstream Inc. (TSX:MBT) - have told the federal government they are interested in bidding on the spectrum auction. They had hoped for the set-aside, to prevent the three big players from using their deep pockets to buy up all available frequencies. In its submission to the industry department, MTS Allstream noted that Canadians pay up to 79 per cent more for wireless services than Americans, a key reason they say that cellphone usage in Canada lags far below that in the U.S. or Europe. ... http://money.canoe.ca/News/MediaHold/2007/11/28/4692641-cp.html

Note: http://money.canoe.ca/N...