Tories’ Cellphone Misdial

Tories' Cellphone Misdial
by: Michael Geist

Following months of intense telecom lobbying, Industry Minister Jim Prentice took to the podium last week at a Toronto hotel and unveiled the government's policy on the forthcoming spectrum auction. Dismissing misleading claims of government subsidies, Prentice pointed to the one fact that is obvious to millions of Canadian cellphone owners -- the Canadian market is sorely lacking in competition, leaving consumers paying too much for too little.

Prentice's proposed remedy? Reserve a portion of the spectrum for new entrants and mandate that the dominant incumbent providers -- Bell, Rogers, and Telus -- share their cellphone towers and enter into roaming agreements with the new competitors. The decision is the right one, but in the rapidly evolving wireless market, it should only be viewed as a first step toward fostering a robust and competitive Canadian wireless marketplace.

Rest the entire article at: http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2007/12/04/CellPhoneMisdial/