The IT Nerd

To paraphrase Eminem from his hit single, “Without Me”…

Guess who’s back? 

Back Again. 

Verizon’s Back. 

Tell A friend. 

Okay. it’s lame. It’s early in the AM so cut me some slack as I could have told you a Rob Ford joke.

In any case, Verizon has made a reappearance in Canada according to The Globe And Mail:

U.S. giant Verizon Communications Inc. appears to be taking a second look at the Canadian market after hiring a consultant to lobby the federal government on its telecommunications policy.

The New York-based telco hired Peter Burn, a consultant with Dentons Canada LLP, to lobby both the Prime Minister’s Office and Industry Canada on this country’s “telecommunications policy framework,” according to new entry in the federal lobbyist registry that was posted Tuesday.

What they’re up to is two things. One is that they want info on section 7 of the Telecommunications Act, which outlines the various objectives of Canada’s telecom policy. Two, Verizon is interested in subsection 5(1) and “the policies and rules promulgated by Industry Canada thereunder,” That suggests that Verizon is looking to take another run at the Canadian market. Something that is sure to make the big three telcos freak. The question in my mind is how long it will take for Verizon’s plans to become evident.

This should send a chill down the backs of the big three. Verizon as far as we currently know isn’t coming to Canada. But the company had a lot of interest in coming north of the border according to The Globe And Mail:

Before pulling the plug on its Canadian expansion, Verizon tabled a $350-million preliminary offer for struggling start-up Mobilicity over the summer. That was in addition to its $700-million initial offer for another small carrier, Wind Mobile. Verizon also looked at another way of entering the market that would not require a spectrum purchase, but would involve leasing space on an existing wireless network.

Verizon’s offer for Mobilicity, which is legally know as Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless Inc., largely reflected the value of the small carrier’s spectrum and did not include any assumption of debt. Mobilicity paid $243.1 million for its spectrum licences during the 2008 auction. It launched service in 2010 and has roughly 250,000 customers.

Verizon spent months studying the merits of both the Mobilicity and Wind deals, with a large contingent of its staff spending long stretches in Canada as local law firms and accountants conducted due diligence on its behalf.

So Rogers, Bell, and Telus really dodged a bullet on that one. And they may have dodged another one:

“We have received confirmation from Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile USA that they did not submit applications for the Canadian 700 MHz auction,” wrote Jeff Fan, a telecom analyst with Scotia Capital Inc. in a note to clients late Wednesday. “We believe the absence of a large U.S. operator removes a threat for the Canadian wireless carriers … Although there is still speculation about other large global operators being involved, we do not believe they would have the same impact on Canada as the U.S. carriers.”

If that’s true, then it’s truly business as usual with the Canadian consumer ending up on the short end of the stick because there’s an oligopoly in Canada. Pity.

Though there might be a shock on the 23rd. Circle that date on your calendar.

No sooner than I had posted my last story does this news break. Here’s what The Globe And Mail is reporting:

Verizon Communications Inc. has no interest in expanding to Canada, says the company’s CEO Lowell McAdam, ending months of speculation that the U.S. telecom giant was poised to shake up Canada’s wireless market.

“Verizon is not going to Canada,” Mr. McAdam said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg.

You can bet that Rogers, Bell and Telus execs are popping open the bubbly to celebrate. And you can bet that consumers will lament that they will not get any relief from outrageous cell phone bills. The status quo has been restored and the Canada is the big loser. Unless some other foreign cell phone company decides to enter the spectrum auction. We’ll find out on the 17th of this month if that’s the case.