Canada's Wireless Crisis

Discounted or Free Service for Politicians??

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:20:06 +0100

I'm just curious whether or not the ones who create the regulations receive specially discounted or free/unlimited voice/data plans? Has anyone investigated this? If so, then it would be a huge conflict of interest because they would have no reason to change the "status quo", right? - Chris

Rogers "Communication"...what a joke!

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:33:47 +0100

A media giant Rogers Communication using the term communication in their name is laughable at best. Ever tried to communicate with this arrogant and pompous organization. Customer service is the furthest ideology from their mindset. Extra billing, lack of accountability and frustrating and tiring out their customers into submission will be their legacy. I ask you to consider how a company can promote the concept of communication, when you cannot speak to anyone beyond a poorly trained customer service rep who does not have permission to resolve issues or escalate problems to any higher authority. The notion of the customer being "KING" has been modified at Rogers to the customer is a "JOKER" so let's treat him/her that way. No wonder so many of us "JOKER'S" continue to expose this farsical communication company for what it is. The public needs to wake up and do to Roger's what Roger's did to Bell. Demand better service,rates and accountability. Wake up Canadians and see the reality of the organizations we allow to manipulate and dominate us due to our passivism. Go to www.ihaterogers.ca to understand the real frustrations. - Keith

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Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:42:21 +0100

Wireless providers are crossing the line in Canada, there needs to be more pressure on them. I just moved to Canada from the US where I resided for 10 years. Consumers are a lot smarter there, they do fight for their discounts/deals, etc. I had a 2 year contract with Sprint and I was entitled to a new phone at the completion of the term, however going through their retention services I managed to have 3 new phones within the 2 year term, I was able to adjust my plan to my liking. So did many others. I tried Fido's retention out of curiosity, just to see where I get, I was told that US gets great rates because of the large population...which is true. however it s not fair that these companies in Canada insist on having the same profits as the companies in the US. We are paying for it and at the end of the day it is about me and my money that I work hard for. I also noticed if you call the companies here and you demand, you can get somewhere. If everyone did it, things could improve for us, consumers. My advice, if you are not happy, pick up the phone, call them, complain about the service, demand refunds,there are many ways...don't just wait until someone else will fix the issue. Joel, I agree, bring in more competition! - Gabi

WORLDWIDE client base in the cell phone sector.

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:49:36 +0100

WORLDWIDE client base in the cell phone sector. Tremendous opportunity to get in the stock now. Check out how big the opportunity is at www.icoft.com/roke.html - Yanni Donald

foreign experience

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:58:08 +0100

I was amazed while travelling in Europe and Africa how easy and cheap it is to swap sim cards to switch from one pay-go carrier to another in different countries. In Canada the oligopoly has really had a free ride and needs to be opened up with more service providers, and perhaps by banning locked phones. - Robert

Less Connected

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:19:19 +0100

So with this techno wonderful world, the internet and cell phone should have brought people much closer. But really it has desensitized us and made us hide in our little boxes, typing away. It's all business and we get caught up in the race to have better things. - Jimmyjimmy

Tmobile G1

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:46:27 +0100

The tmobile G1 has been unlocked, this will allow you to use a SIM card from any network, in any country. Hey guys FYI, T-mobile will unlock any phone for you for free if you are in good standing with the company, so don’t shell out the cash to get that iphone unlocked just call T-mobile.http://www.fommy.com/t-mobile-g1.htm - Fommy

Canadian Monopoly

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:55:56 +0100

It really doesn\'t matter what happens because Canada is a home for monopolies. From provinces who run the only insurance, hydro, and gas to national carriers who can pretty much charge what they want, its either them or the other guy. Canada needs a fresh new party away from the PQ, Liberals, NDP, and Conservatives. A new party with new ideas that upholds the same values as the old parties but have different people with different views. So it doesn\'t matter what is up for auction; 700, 600, 500mhz it will all be the same. - Cristhian

Fuck you, Apple!

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:18:03 +0100

Fuck you, Apple! via p2pnet.net: “Black market of Russia is waiting for second-generation iPhone” [ link ] (in Russian) And here is a quote from the article: ” A source in Apple IMS Russia told �Gazeta.Ru�, that there is no plan to launch iPhone in Russia at this time. As �Gazeta.Ru� wrote earlier, the possible reason for this is that Russia lacks a business model where the phone is sold locked to one service provider. ” - anon

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Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:13:34 +0100

\"Canadians prove to be laggards in buying cellphones\" [ link ] Article is a flop, but comments rule! -

Rogers Screws iPhone!

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:27:51 +0100

After Rogers\' announcement of its rates, this site says it all: [ link ] - Adam

CRTC is committed to a de-regulatory?

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:36:41 +0100

CRTC says, quote \"The CRTC does not regulate wireless service providers due to the competitive nature of the service\". But with regard to the spectrum auction, Minister of Industry Jim Prentice says, \"Our government\'s intentions are clear: to achieve lower prices, better service and more choice for consumers and business�. Obviously Industry Canada doesn�t think wireless services are competitive so why wouldn�t the CRTC think wireless services are competitive and regulate according to the Act as they do with foreign ownership? Or if the CRTC doesn\'t regulate the wireless industry, does that mean foreign ownership is allowed? The CRTC regulates this part of the Telecommunication Act: 7(d) to promote the ownership and control of Canadian carriers by Canadians. But will not regulate this part: 7(b) to render reliable and affordable telecommunications services of high quality accessible to Canadians in both urban and rural areas in all regions of Canada; 7(c) to enhance the efficiency and competitiveness, at the national and international levels, of Canadian telecommunications; The CRTC is selectively choosing what and who to govern under Telecommunication Act. - Tony in Vancouver

really more competition needed

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:56:11 +0100

Great article/speech! In Russia (which also has a vast unhabited territory) people can pay about 10c to call TO CANADA, and usual price of GPRS/EDGE Megabyte is about 25c (on special data plans it could be even 10c per Mb). Moreover there are also only 3 federal networks (in some cities more), but competition really helped to drop prices. Needless to say that in the modern world noone is paying for incoming calls - it\\\'s ridiculous! Unfortunately here i don\\\'t have a choice - there\\\'s only one GSM company - Rogers (FIDO\\\'s their brand too), so i\\\'m using voice only - SMS are quite expensive, and data is \\\"golden\\\" - 51$ per Mb in nonsense (as mentioned above, 7$ \\\"unlimited\\\" browsing is actually limited to WAP and branded phones). CBC mentioned a week ago there might be changes - I really hope so... Looking forward for WiMax coming to Canada - sergey

Greedy Cell Phone Companies

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:41:11 +0100

Cellphone service in Canada is sad. My provider, Fido, will not support my unlocked Nokia E61i phone. So I can\'t access their unlimited data plan which costs $7.00 per month. The funny thing is that the E61i is simply a somewhat upgraded version of a phone Fido sold and supported up until late last year - the Nokia E62. So supporting the The main difference between the two is that the E61i has built-in WiFi. Cell phone companies hate people who have WiFi phones, because they can surf using free WiFi hotspots, instead of paying usually overpriced data rates. Needless to say, I\'m not going to be renewing my contract with Fido when it expires. It\'s funny how cell phone providers all hold themselves out to be hip, technologically savvy and cutting-edge organizations. Yet they all sell crippled cell phones and overpriced service plans. Real competition in the industry is desperately, desperately needed. As if all this wasn\'t bad enough, the Tories plan to add insult to the injury of people in my situation by bringing in legislation that will make purchase and possession of unlocked cell phones illegal. I suspect that this is a sop they\'re handing to the cellphone providers in return for securing more competition in the industry. It must be nice to be in a business where your profits are dictated by government fiat and your customers have no freedoms or economic rights. - nobdoy

This could in fact be two issues

Fri, 09 May 2008 13:05:58 +0100

The issue of competition has been brought up so many times I am getting dizzy. However, can you have real competition while there are only a couple of providers who have towers? The last numbers I remember seeing was that there are a total of over 20 cellular companies in Canada, but they all use one of two networks, each of which is owned by one of the providers (Rogers or Bell). And did they not get spectrum set-asides when they first started constructing the networks? - Kevin

Wireless monopolies

Fri, 09 May 2008 12:08:51 +0100

What a coincidence you wrote about lack of competition in wireless networks. I am with Storm (now Xplornet since they bought out Storm). I now (yesterday was the conversion) \'enjoy\' a crippled version of the service I had with Storm and am encouraged to pay more money for the same service level. Sneakily, they block ports with their NAT so that online gamers and torrent (cbc download, not illegitimate) users who use more bandwith find their ports blocked unless they pay for a static IP address which, in effect, is a premium service for content. I would switch ISP\'s but, surprise, Xplornet bought out the only competition in the area. I would LOVE for the US wireless sector to come to Canada to shake things up. - James

Interesting post and comments

Thu, 08 May 2008 16:03:24 +0100

This is a great post. I came across it while researching mobile marketing law in Canada for my upcoming book about mobile marketing. No wonder I\'m not finding much if Canada is so far behind. @Michel - When one wants to know What a well written comment about how far behind each subsequent country is. May I continue with saying that if one wants to know how far behind Japan is, one simply has to look to South Korea. Tomi Ahonen\'s excellent book Digital Korea is an eye opener and made me feel like we in the US are living in the stone age. - Kim Dushinski

When one wants to know

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:34:35 +0100

When one wants to know how far we are from the rest of the world, one simply have to go to USA. On the plane, there are people using their wireless data connection, phone models are plenty, no 2 people have the same phone, as compared to here, where you will hear a phone ringing and 3 people will get their phone from their pockets. In here, even if the phone was able to do MMS, I couldn\\\'t make it work because it wasn\\\'t implemented. A 3 years old phone and I couldn\\\'t even use one of its functions, imagine! When one wants to know how far the USA is from the rest of the world, one simply have to go to Europe. Everyone has a cell phone, they are mostly using their phones as main phone, sponsorized, simm-free, unlocked, a booming environment with so many possibilities. When one wants to know how far the world is from cutting edge, one simply have to go to Japan. Phones everywhere, phone accessories and customization, phone rental, so many cool things you cannot even start to see the possibilities. I always said I\\\'d switch carrier as soon as the iPhone was to be in my place, as it\\\'s the sole phone that got any chance of making the cut in our high profit low service mentality. - Michel

time to quit the net

Thu, 08 May 2008 02:41:25 +0100

why fight em let them have a internet with no one on it and no one getitng the p2p advertising of there tunes and movies, allow bell and rogers to keep harrassing tv users and over charge and one day when they have no customers or such a small base they wont be able to afford what they have and it all goes poof. That day will mark when afghanistan will have better internet service then us. - time to quit the net

Market forces

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:00:58 +0100

@Serge Just to clarify, I\'m not putting my faith in market forces, however at this point in time, the government it protecting the big 3. Be it by making non-spectrum competitors to be 51% owned by a canadian partner (a la Virgin, Koodo) Which is not true competition. We need unfettered access from true competition, this is the only shakeup we can get for the time being. The population density arguement is total bull. - Joel