The IT Nerd

Trying to find out what Wind Mobile is planning on doing has become some sort of national sport. A tipster on the Mobile Ninjas board has posted launch details that seem really interesting. First, there will only be three plans and they will have the following features:

• No contracts
• No System Access Fee
• No Caller ID or Voice Mail fees
• No in province Long Distance

No pricing as of yet, so I’ll have to reserve judgment. But on the surface it sounds good. Next is their phone lineup:

• Blackberry Bold 9700
• HTC Snap/Dash 3g
• Huawei U8220
• There will also be a Samsung slider. Not too sure on the model but it is one with a full slide out keyboard.

Okay, so it’s not a huge phone lineup. But I recall that the phone lineup for Fido wasn’t huge either when it launched in the 90’s. One more detail. All the stores will have Microsoft Surface tables in their stores. I’m sure it’s for the eye candy factor.

All of this seems to be a huge departure from the other “leak” that I reported on previously. I wonder if the previous “leak” was fake as Wind said it was? Or was it an attempt to gauge consumer reaction to their launch plans? I suspect we’ll never get a straight answer to that.

The only detail that’s missing is pricing. If the pricing is good, a lot of people will seriously consider defecting from their current mobile phone company. I know that I would consider doing so.

You might recall that Wind Mobile/Globalive has been the target of a CRTC probe into it’s ownership structure at the request of Telus, and that the CRTC not only went along with the request but fast tracked it as well. Yesterday was day one of the hearings and things to say the least are interesting. The key issue is if Wind Mobile is owned by Canadians or not:

The Telecom Act specifies that carriers must be overwhelmingly Canadian-controlled. Globalive insists that it has satisfied the requirements with a structure where Egyptian-based cellphone company Orascom holds a 65-per-cent equity stake. The arrangement uses a complicated formula that involves two holding companies in which Mr. Lacavera owns the majority of voting shares.

However Rogers, Bell and Telus don’t see it that way:

But Telus vice-president Ted Woodhead and Rogers Wireless executive Ken Engelhart argued Globalive was simply obscuring the fact that Naguib Sawiris, an Egyptian billionaire and CEO of Orascom, was using the company as a pawn to get its hands in the Canadian market.

“The capital structure is not compliant,” Mr. Woodhead said, “and the web of other connections and control can lead to no other conclusion than Globalive has yielded control to non-Canadians.”

The chief of regulatory affairs at Bell Canada, Mirko Bibic, also argued that Globalive does not have a Canadian majority on its board, another legal requirement.

“You’ve got Orascom directly appointing three [board members] and having a say … in the other four,” Mr. Bibic said. “That’s control … that allows Orascom to completely control the operating entity…. We submit that it’s all merely window dressing.”

Regardless of the outcome, expect the losing side of this fight to file some sort of an appeal instantly.

Globalive has re-branded their wireless division into Wind Mobile. What’s so significant about that? I’ll let this paragraph from the press release explain:

Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA (Wind) is a leading operator in the fixed line and mobile telephony sectors with sister operations in Italy and Greece. With 16.9 million mobile subscribers, Wind is the fastest growing mobile operator in Italy. Wind serves 5.2M mobile customers in Greece. In Canada WIND will leverage this global success and knowledge to the benefit of Canadian customers. Wind is controlled by Weather Investment SpA which is controlled by the Sawiris family.

Basically, these dudes have brand recognition already. Their Italian arm for example are the shirt sponsors of A.S. Roma which is one of Italy’s top football sides. If you sponsor a football side where player’s transfer fees can add up to over $130 million in the the case of Cristano Ronaldo, then the sponsor must have deep pockets because you can be sure that the club isn’t getting all of that cash from the gate.

Oh if you’re Canadian and looking for a job, you might want to take note of this:

WIND is already growing fast. Starting today, WIND is actively looking to immediately fill 300 positions in customer service and up to 2000 more positions within the next 12 months. More information about current employment opportunities and how to apply can be found at www.windmobile.ca.

Get in your application now. I’m betting that these jobs will go fast. Finally, here’s something that will send chills down the spines of execs at Rogers, Telus, and Bell:

WIND is currently on target to launch in key markets in late 2009 and will continue to launch services across Canada in 2010. Service will operate on an all-IP HSPA network, which will pave the way to an LTE network in the future. Using this format will enable Canadian customers to have first-class wireless service and access to a broad choice of devices available to purchase exclusively from WIND.

If you’re looking to switch providers, you now know when you can make the jump.