Things have gotten little out of hand in Canada with the Government trying to foster competition, mandate low foreign ownership and encourage broadband to every citizen, all at the same time.
The new wireless companies business plans all depend on the incumbents staying the course and not becoming more competitive. So much so that they are actually taking an incumbent to court for daring to lower their prices and target the same market.
So now they want the incumbents to…
1. ‘share’ any new infrastructure investments with 2Bobs-&-a-Truck Inc.
2. Guarantee they will not price their products competitively.
The wireless industry is getting very predatory in Canada, and you know that all things being equal… he who has the deepest pockets wins a war of discount pricing.
Canadians like winners, but don’t want anyone to lose. Probably has roots is the new school sports system that mandates a good time for all with no room for sad, all that matters is you tried little Johnny.
Anyway, here’s a new idea for Canada that solves any fairness issues…
All of the Telcos should get together and Cartel the Infrastructure! (Before the Government re-nationalizes it?). The idea is to have a non-profit broadband-reseller controlled and shared infrastructure. Start with the Bell/Telus joint Wireless infrastructure ownership deal and allow for an arms-length Government mandated monopoly ownership for all broadband infrastructures.
Bell, Telus and even Rogers should love this because they could focus on their real business… being just another reseller of broadband services and products. They keep harping about not wanting to be just a ‘pipe’ supplier since there’s no money in it, so let it go!
The CRTC should love it because it creates a level playing field for incumbents and newcomers and they would have better success at encouraging (mandating?) broadband access in rural areas. Only one throat to choke.
Customers will love it because competition will be alive and well without the extra financial burden of duplicated (triplicating, quadruplicating etc) infrastructure investments, which the customer ultimately pays for anyway.
All reseller members of the Cartel would have a vote towards who would be on the management board and the board would elect their chairperson.
Who knows… maybe they’re already secretly plotting the Broadband Revolution.
As always, we look forward to your thoughts and feedback at Editor@FOXGROUPmedia.com