The Globe And Mail has a very interesting article on its front page today that seems to make the case for Verizon entering Canada in a couple of ways. This is surprising given that The Globe And Mail is owned by Bell who are one of the big three telcos. In any case, there’s two things to note from this article. The first is that they are reporting on a Forum Research poll that says the following:
A Forum Research poll found that 57 per cent of respondents want foreign wireless companies to expand into Canada, and 68 per cent believe that an American competitor would drive down prices as the Canadian carriers are forced to compete for customers.
But it also says this:
Sixty five per cent of those asked said they didn’t think any foreign company should be given preferential access to the spectrum when it comes up for auction in January, while 57 per cent said Verizon shouldn’t be allowed to piggyback on existing Canadian networks.
So the net result is that Canadians want Verizon, but they want no special deals. Now the second item is that the Fraser Institute which is a think tank is releasing a report today that argues that restrictions on foreign ownership should be dropped in the teclo space:
The think tank argues the country already has a competitive market, with prices similar to the United States. It says the market should now be opened to companies across the globe, who would spend as much as it takes to build their operations if there is a business case for doing so and put pressure on the Big Three incumbents.
At the moment, foreign companies are barred from acquiring Canadian telecom companies with more than 10 per cent of the market. The Fraser Institute would like to eliminate that restriction, which would open the door to foreign bids for Canada’s three largest telecom players.
“The elimination of all foreign ownership restrictions on facilities-based carriers and reliance upon the Competition Act to deter acquisitions of spectrum that threaten to reduce competition, as well as discourage any abuses of market dominance that raise rivals’ costs or otherwise suppress competition, seem quite adequate competitive safeguards,” the report stated.
That makes sense to me. If the big three really wanted to compete, they’d be in favor of this as it levels the playing field for everyone. However, I suspect that if you ask the big three, they’d have a problem with this too.
UPDATE: The Fraser Institute report that I spoke of can be found here. [Warning: PDF]
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This entry was posted on August 26, 2013 at 7:59 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Canada, wireless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Article Makes Case For Verizon On Two Fronts [UPDATED]
The Globe And Mail has a very interesting article on its front page today that seems to make the case for Verizon entering Canada in a couple of ways. This is surprising given that The Globe And Mail is owned by Bell who are one of the big three telcos. In any case, there’s two things to note from this article. The first is that they are reporting on a Forum Research poll that says the following:
A Forum Research poll found that 57 per cent of respondents want foreign wireless companies to expand into Canada, and 68 per cent believe that an American competitor would drive down prices as the Canadian carriers are forced to compete for customers.
But it also says this:
Sixty five per cent of those asked said they didn’t think any foreign company should be given preferential access to the spectrum when it comes up for auction in January, while 57 per cent said Verizon shouldn’t be allowed to piggyback on existing Canadian networks.
So the net result is that Canadians want Verizon, but they want no special deals. Now the second item is that the Fraser Institute which is a think tank is releasing a report today that argues that restrictions on foreign ownership should be dropped in the teclo space:
The think tank argues the country already has a competitive market, with prices similar to the United States. It says the market should now be opened to companies across the globe, who would spend as much as it takes to build their operations if there is a business case for doing so and put pressure on the Big Three incumbents.
At the moment, foreign companies are barred from acquiring Canadian telecom companies with more than 10 per cent of the market. The Fraser Institute would like to eliminate that restriction, which would open the door to foreign bids for Canada’s three largest telecom players.
“The elimination of all foreign ownership restrictions on facilities-based carriers and reliance upon the Competition Act to deter acquisitions of spectrum that threaten to reduce competition, as well as discourage any abuses of market dominance that raise rivals’ costs or otherwise suppress competition, seem quite adequate competitive safeguards,” the report stated.
That makes sense to me. If the big three really wanted to compete, they’d be in favor of this as it levels the playing field for everyone. However, I suspect that if you ask the big three, they’d have a problem with this too.
UPDATE: The Fraser Institute report that I spoke of can be found here. [Warning: PDF]
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This entry was posted on August 26, 2013 at 7:59 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Canada, wireless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.