Today has been dubbed “Cellphone Freedom Day” because if you’re a Canadian who has a cell phone and a three year contract that was signed on Or before June 3rd, 2013, you can walk away from that contract without paying any cancellation fees. Now that’s a good thing as it’s going to force Bell, Rogers, and Telus to make deals to either keep you as a customer or steal you from one of the other two. So if you are in this category, this is a good time to get a better deal on your cell phone bill.
That’s where the good news ends. I say that because in the broader sense this will not address the fundamental problem with the cell phone industry in Canada which is that there is an oligopoly that’s made up of Bell, Rogers, and Telus that pretty much kills any meaningful competition. This does nothing to change that. Sure Wind Mobile and some smaller players exist. But they have nowhere near the market share and the network capacity of the so called “big three.” That means that they pose no real threat to the “big three.” As a result, Canadians will continue to pay way more for their cell phones than say the UK or the US or anyone else.
How does this get fixed? There needs to be a fourth wireless carrier that has its own infrastructure (as carriers like Wind have limited infrastructures and their users roam onto one of the networks of the “big three.”) Now that could be Videotron who has bought a ton of spectrum in a lot of places and could theoretically set up a coast to coast wireless network and they already cause some grief for the “big three” in Quebec. But I am not convinced that they’re the salvation for Canada’s wireless problems. Frequent readers of this blog will know that my solution would be to encourage a big overseas carrier such as a Orange, Deutche Telekom, Vodafone or someone of that ilk to come into Canada and set up their own infrastructure. Sure it would take two or three years to do that, but the “big three” would drop their prices overnight to levels that we should be paying simply to keep people from defecting. That’s the real solution. Thus I would enjoy “Cellphone Freedom Day” if you can, but seeing as this is an election year in Canada, I’d also be telling the candidates who knock on your door looking for votes that we need real change in the cell phone industry in Canada and we need that change now.
Why Canada’s “Cellphone Freedom Day” May Or May Not Make A Difference For You
Posted in Commentary with tags Canada, wireless on June 3, 2015 by itnerdToday has been dubbed “Cellphone Freedom Day” because if you’re a Canadian who has a cell phone and a three year contract that was signed on Or before June 3rd, 2013, you can walk away from that contract without paying any cancellation fees. Now that’s a good thing as it’s going to force Bell, Rogers, and Telus to make deals to either keep you as a customer or steal you from one of the other two. So if you are in this category, this is a good time to get a better deal on your cell phone bill.
That’s where the good news ends. I say that because in the broader sense this will not address the fundamental problem with the cell phone industry in Canada which is that there is an oligopoly that’s made up of Bell, Rogers, and Telus that pretty much kills any meaningful competition. This does nothing to change that. Sure Wind Mobile and some smaller players exist. But they have nowhere near the market share and the network capacity of the so called “big three.” That means that they pose no real threat to the “big three.” As a result, Canadians will continue to pay way more for their cell phones than say the UK or the US or anyone else.
How does this get fixed? There needs to be a fourth wireless carrier that has its own infrastructure (as carriers like Wind have limited infrastructures and their users roam onto one of the networks of the “big three.”) Now that could be Videotron who has bought a ton of spectrum in a lot of places and could theoretically set up a coast to coast wireless network and they already cause some grief for the “big three” in Quebec. But I am not convinced that they’re the salvation for Canada’s wireless problems. Frequent readers of this blog will know that my solution would be to encourage a big overseas carrier such as a Orange, Deutche Telekom, Vodafone or someone of that ilk to come into Canada and set up their own infrastructure. Sure it would take two or three years to do that, but the “big three” would drop their prices overnight to levels that we should be paying simply to keep people from defecting. That’s the real solution. Thus I would enjoy “Cellphone Freedom Day” if you can, but seeing as this is an election year in Canada, I’d also be telling the candidates who knock on your door looking for votes that we need real change in the cell phone industry in Canada and we need that change now.
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