Rogers Communications Inc. shouldnB次元官网网址檛 be allowed to buy CanadaB次元官网网址檚 fourth-largest wireless service, Freedom Mobile, because it would undo attempts improve prices and services through competition, experts in telecommunications policy told MPs on Tuesday.
In a third day of hearings into the Rogers proposal to buy Shaw Communications Inc., which owns Freedom and Western CanadaB次元官网网址檚 largest internet network, University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist said regulators should require a spinoff of the wireless assets before approving the deal.
B次元官网网址淲hile some seek to justify it or explain it away, the simple reality is that Canadians already pay some of the highest prices for wireless services in the world,B次元官网网址� Geist said, echoing other opponents of the deal.
B次元官网网址淚f this merger is approved, the situation is likely to get worse. Indeed, when Rogers promises that it will not raise prices for Shaw Freedom Mobile customers for three years, it effectively signals that it will be raising them as soon as the clock runs out on that time.B次元官网网址�
Shaw chief executive Brad Shaw and Rogers CEO Joe Natale told the same committee on March 29 that theyB次元官网网址檇 be stronger competitors to Bell and Telus by combined their spending power and assets. That would allow the combined company to reach more rural and underserved areas, they said.
Brad Shaw also said the company founded by his father J.R. Shaw just wasnB次元官网网址檛 big enough on its own to fund the enormous investments required to build fifth-generation wireless networks.
Under questioning, Geist B次元官网网址� an expert in internet and e-commerce policy B次元官网网址� said the B次元官网网址渕ost palatableB次元官网网址� outcome would be to have Shaw and Freedom to remain independent rivals to CanadaB次元官网网址檚 biggest three biggest telecommunications companies.
B次元官网网址淪haw is a viable, innovative competitor,B次元官网网址� Geist said. B次元官网网址淪o taking them out of the market B次元官网网址� is a loss ultimately for consumers.B次元官网网址�
Ben Klass, a member of a research team studying ownership concentration in CanadaB次元官网网址檚 telecom and media industries, said the government needs to stick with aiming for a fourth wireless carrier in every region.
Most of the new wireless competitors that emerged in 2008 and 2009 have been absorbed by the Big Three. Shaw bought the largest independent, Wind Mobile, rebranding it as Freedom after the 2016 purchase.
B次元官网网址淲hat weB次元官网网址檙e left with is Freedom (in Ontario, Alberta and B.C.) B次元官网网址tron in Quebec, Eastlink in the Maritime provinces,B次元官网网址� Klass said.
B次元官网网址淚f this merger is allowed, it would be tantamount to the governmentB次元官网网址檚 admission that theyB次元官网网址檙e no longer interested in supporting real competition in this space.B次元官网网址�
The deal announced March 15 needs regulatory approval to go forward. Key officials, including the federal competition commissioner, are scheduled to address the committee on Wednesday.
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David Paddon, The Canadian Press
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