At the start of this month the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Michael Geist, issued a report in which he had mentioned 10 reasons why the wireless market in Canada is “woefully uncompetitive.” Geist’s report gave birth to a new debate in the country which has brought forward several responses to his publication including one from TELUS. Now Bernard Lord, who is the CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) has released his response to the 10 reasons from Geist by stating on Cartt.ca:
“Contrary to Prof. Geist’s assertions of an uncompetitive marketplace, Canada has one of the least concentrated markets in the OECD. We are also one of only six OECD countries with more than four wireless service providers. On average, the top two service providers in OECD countries control almost 72% of subscribers, however Canada’s top two carriers only serve just over 62% of Canadian subscribers.”
“Canadians have many choices for wireless services with more than two dozen wireless service providers, including national carriers, discount brands, urban-centric providers, strong regional players and high profile resellers. In this article I will respond to each of the ten reasons why Prof. Geist fails to see that the Canadian wireless market is competitive.”
In his reply Bernard Lord also addressed the three year contracts. Here is the short snippet from his response:
“Prof. Geist argues that Scotia Capital is wrong when they say that Canada’s three-year contracts are correlated with high smart phone adoption. I believe Scotia’s point is that longer contracts mean a lower upfront cost which allows more customers to enjoy the benefits of smartphones. I will not take sides on this one. The important thing is that in Canada, unlike in other countries, in-market wireless plans allow customers to cancel their contract at any time merely by paying the unamortized balance on your smartphone subsidy and get your phone unlocked. So in Canada, customers can really pick their own contract length.”
Since CWTA is the representative of the Canadian wireless industry therefore a response to wireless critics like Professor Geist from the CEO of the organization was not a big revelation and neither was Lord’s opinion which asserts that Canadian wireless market is quite competitive. On the other hand the fresh figures over on the website of CWTA also depicts that wireless industry of the country is flourishing and playing a important role in the financial system of Canada, as it has brought $43 billion into the economy and added 261,000 jobs.
Source: iPhoneinCanada
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