The arrival of more competition in Canada\u2019s cell phone industry should benefit consumers but users are waiting to see whether new suppliers will mean lower prices .<\/p>\n
For example WIND mobile launched service in Ottawa\u00a0 in late March, after already being available in Toronto, Edmonton, and Calgary.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of the first independent wireless companies trying to take away market share from the industry giants \u2013 Telus, Bell, and Rogers.<\/p>\n
According to reports, WIND\u2019s network will cover Ottawa within the Greenbelt, and will soon cover all of suburban Kanata, Orleans, and Gatineau.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we have brought real wireless choice to the people of Ottawa!\u201d proclaimed Anthony Lacavera, chairman of Globalive and WIND Mobile in a press release. \u201cThere has never been a better time, or better reason for Canadians to switch their wireless provider.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOW MUCH WILL CONSUMERS BENEFIT?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n According to Statistics Canada, Canadians are now spending more on cell phone plans and usage than on landlines, making it one of the richest industries in the country.<\/p>\n It is a sector that has been dominated by the three major players but WIND hopes to shake that up offering service plans as low as $15 a month.<\/p>\n \u201cCanadians were very clear when they told us what they wanted when it comes to wireless \u2013 they want value, honesty, and simplicity\u201d said Kevin Campbell, the CEO of Wind Mobile.<\/p>\n Campbell continues by saying that WIND could offer savings of 40 to 60 per cent compared to what is being offered by Rogers, Bell, and Telus.<\/p>\n The three industry giants are starting to take notice though,\u00a0 responding with more aggressive marketing campaigns using their \u201cdiscount\u201d phone carriers: Koodo, Fido, and Solo respectively.<\/p>\n If that wasn\u2019t enough, Canadians are about to get\u00a0 the benefit of even more competition, as other carriers Mobilicity, Public Mobile, DAVE Mobile, and Videotron are getting ready for launch in 2010.<\/p>\n WAITING FOR CHEAPER PLANS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n It has never been a better time to be a consumer, as with increased competition comes decreased prices on plans and services for mobile users.<\/p>\n These new carriers are focusing on a specific demographic and WIND mobile has already made headway to try to capitalize on this group who has an increasing buying power.<\/p>\n WIND is not using traditional means to sell its product either. In Ottawa\u00a0 it has set up kiosks in two Blockbuster video stores and\u00a0 is looking to add more locations\u00a0 in Future Shop and Best Buy outlets. This is a different tactic than the other carriers, who have stand-alone stores in malls.<\/p>\n In other markets like Toronto, WIND has\u00a0 its own flagship store, as well as five other kiosks in malls across the city. Depending on the success of WIND in the nation\u2019s capital, this may be something that Ottawa cell-phone users see next.<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t been all smooth sailing for WIND\u00a0 though.<\/p>\n In late 2009 the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) ruled that WIND\u2019s main financial backer, Egypt\u2019s Orascom had too much influence over the company, and so it did not qualify as \u201cCanadian.\u201d<\/p>\n CANADIAN IN CONSERVATIVE EYES<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The federal government then stepped in and overruled the CRTC.<\/p>\n Tony Clement, the Minister of Industry, concluded that Globalive is a Canadian company that meets Canadian ownership and control requirements under the Telecommunications act, a decision that was well-received by Lacavera.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thank the Government of Canada for a decision that will serve the best interests of Canadian consumers,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n There has also been questions about Blockbuster, WIND\u2019s official retail partner. Blockbuster is going through a troubled economic situation and nearing bankruptcy. Lacavera said he\u00a0 hopes that the video chain will pull through, but is prepared for the worst, nonetheless.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of distribution methods in front of us and we\u2019re assessing them,\u201d he said in an interview with the CBC. \u201cWe could have time to find alternate scenarios.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, the rest of 2010 will remain interesting for not only the new carriers like WIND, DAVE, and Public Mobile, but the consumers as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The arrival of more competition in Canada\u2019s cell phone industry should benefit consumers but users are waiting to see whether<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[236],"class_list":["post-1187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal-finance-2010","tag-adam-stanley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1187"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4313,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187\/revisions\/4313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}