Verizon Entering Canada Benefits Overestimated Introduction As an employee at TELUS, I was invited to join our company’s campaign to petition the federal government for fair competition in the Canadian wireless industry in July 2013. As reported extensively in the media, there was speculation about Verizon’s intention to buy Canadian upstart Wind Mobile with an initial bid of $700 million, and to be also in talks about buying fellow upstart Mobilicity. Verizon's bid comes after the federal government made changes in 2012 to the telecommunications rules that allowed foreign entities to enter the Canadian sector, albeit with certain limitations. Despite that, Canada's big three telecoms — Rogers, Bell and my employer, Telus — have cried foul to the notion of the American giant entering Canada's wireless market this way, as these smaller companies had been given an advantage in the periodic auctions for …show more content…
This commitment ensured that 99% of Canadians had access to 4G networks, and they were on pace to deliver best-in-class 4G LTE coverage to 75% of Canadians by the end of 2013. By imposing only minimal coverage obligations on new entrants, the government’s wireless spectrum auction rules showed little concern for rural and remote communities. They believed that it spelled disaster for truly “national” coverage. As profit-seeking businesses, any companies would not invest capital into something not profitable. The initial investment in 4G networks is due to competition, because the companies want to compete for market share from each other by offering faster and better wireless services. The Canadian federal government did not have a regulation for them to make the investment. Consequently, the new entrants could potentially make the current companies to invest more capital to upgrade their existing services for the