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To: axial who wrote (36012)	10/8/2010 6:31:58 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 46821

Canada’s Telecom Sector Must Embrace Fair Competition The following is an abbreviated version of a keynote address WIND Mobile chairman Tony Lacavera delivered to the Toronto Board of Trade last Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010. Our wireless market is among the worst in the developed world, but it could become a pillar of economic growth if major companies stop phoning it in. Just over a year ago, following the federal government’s wireless auction, Canadians were buoyed by the hope of better wireless prices, products, and service. Clearly change was needed. Canada’s wireless industry had come to lag behind the rest of the developed world. Canadians paid 2.2 times more than their American neighbours for services. Wireless penetration stood at 67 per cent; Canada ranked dead last in the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]. There is no doubt that change is happening. Yet, we continue to face a unique challenge in our attempt to bring fair wireless competition to Canada. Canada has a proud history of telecommunications leadership, from Alexander Graham Bell to Nortel and, most recently, RIM. Recently, however, complacency has clouded our wireless market. Part of the problem is that Canada is a relatively small market of only 33 million, dominated by regional cable and telecom monopolies. Increasingly bloated conglomerates have offered poor service and product choice to a public that is only just starting to realize how much they are overpaying for mediocrity. Unlike Canadian companies in other industries, such as Molson, Four Seasons, RIM, or Magna, Canada’s three major telecom companies are satisfied to mine their domestic fiefdoms. Compare our incumbent wireless operators to the U.K.-based Vodafone, which launched only two years prior to Cantel, the predecessor to Rogers Wireless. Twenty-five years later, Vodafone has over 300 million subscribers in 31 countries. All three Canadian incumbents have grown to only 22 million subscribers in only one country. Without competition, Canada’s three major incumbent wireless players have been stuck in a time warp. They have no incentive to offer competitive choice in product and plans and no incentive to grow beyond our borders to become world leaders and global competitors. But Canada has the opportunity to go back to the future. Canada’s telecom sector has the opportunity to become a pillar of economic growth and innovation. So what does this future look like? First of all, the fear of foreign capital must end. If we cannot fund network expansion domestically, then Canadian telecom companies must be allowed to look internationally for financing. I applaud the steps Minister Clement and the federal government are taking by stating their desire to liberalize the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Acts. But more is needed. The federal government must ensure that regulations are in place that support the consumer and that do not support entrenched anti-competitive behaviour. Regulations are necessary because the incumbents have proven time and time again that they are not prepared to give consumers a fair shake. They charge abusive early termination fees, and fictional fees like system access fees. They continue to avoid clear and transparent disclosure to customers. In addition incumbents have tried to maintain their market position by using anti-competitive dirty tricks, including avoiding tower sharing agreements. Here’s another good example: Take the recent launch of Rogers’ new brand Chatr. Rogers launched Chatr with an ad campaign claiming network superiority including fewer dropped calls than new entrants. There is absolutely no solid or objective technical basis for Chatrs’ claim to have fewer dropped calls than WIND. The truth is that Rogers doesn’t have access to WIND Mobile’s network stats and Rogers doesn’t share access. It is impossible to accurately compare networks. The only real comparison is on the network infrastructure itself. WIND’s technologically advanced network has been built to accommodate an evolution to 4G, which will provide superior quality of service and better handling of multimedia and mobile applications. In comparison, Chatr is run on Rogers’ old 2G network, which may be one of the reasons they are restricting their customers to voice and text without data. What’s even more ludicrous is the dropped-call claim. In most countries around the world, when a customer moves from one carrier’s network to another, there is a seamless transition for the caller. It’s called a soft handoff. In Canada, however, the government does not obligate carriers to provide seamless handoffs, and WIND’s roaming partners have refused to give customers the benefit of seamless handoff. The result is that when a WIND customer moves from a WIND home zone to a roaming partner’s network (an “away” zone), the call drops. Chatr’s advertising is so misleading, so anti-competitive, that WIND Mobile has lodged a complaint with the Canadian Competition Bureau, which is now investigating these claims. Competition doesn’t just happen. True competition and the long-term benefits of competition for Canadians will occur when and if Canada’s regulatory framework is improved, access to foreign capital is unhindered, and wireless incumbents stop playing games and start putting customers first. Telecom has historically removed the isolation of the Canadian experience and has brought this great country together, connecting corporate Canada to the remote regions of this country and beyond. Canada’s telecom legacy and its economic spin-offs are something that every Canadian should be proud of, and should aggressively aspire [towards]. However, only fair competition will bring Canada’s telecommunication industry into the next generation – a generation with fair choice and one where the Canadian consumer will benefit. themarknews.com