Channel Daily News

Wireless competition means lower prices

Canada needs to permit new competitors in the wireless sector to ensure consumers are offered lower prices and advanced services, says a new coalition created to build support for competition in the Canadian wireless sector.

The Telecom Policy Review Panel believes more competition will lower prices and it has been proven in other countries.

In a report, the Telecom Policy Review Panel identified that the smaller number of mobile providers in Canada may mean that there is less competition in the Canadian market than in the U.S. market, which consequently has resulted in higher prices, less innovation, lower uptake and lower rates of usage the Panel concludes that Canada’s mobile wireless industry lags behind its major trading partners on a number of key measures.

Luc Lavoie, coalition spokesperson and executive vice president of Quebecor, said currently, three companies control the entire Canadian market and that has led to higher prices, and less advanced technologies than are common in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. The solution for this is very simple – more competition will help lower prices and introduce the technologies that Canadians will need to compete globally in the wireless economy.

The coalition will be reaching out to businesses and consumers to make them aware of the government’s process and to the fact that Canada lags behind the rest of the world in this sector in terms of price and technology. The Coalition has launched a website to provide information and research on the Canadian wireless landscape and encourages people who agree with its position to register their support on the website, www.wirelessfuture.ca, in the interest of Canadian consumers and businesses.