Ottawa OKs fourth cellphone player

[DurkaDurka]

Looks like we'll finally have some competition to the big 3. Hopefully Wind will actually offering some compelling deals in comparison to Rogers, Bell & Telus. In particular, it would be nice to see Wind offer more then the standard 512mb of data transfer per month which is the norm for smartphone plans by the other three.

Ottawa OKs fourth cellphone player - thestar.com


Decision overturns CRTC ruling on company with foreign ties, bringing increased wireless competition


OTTAWA – The Conservative government has paved the way for increased cellphone competition by overturning a CTRC decision barring Globalive Wireless service from operating in Canada.
"Globalive is a Canadian company, and meets Canadian ownership and control requirements under the Telecommunications Act," Industry Minister Tony Clement said today.
The CRTC had ruled the company, Globalive Wireless Management Corp., had not met Canadian ownership requirements.
"The impact of this decision means a near national (wireless) competitor," Clement said.
Globalive Wireless has said it plans to offer wireless service under the brand WIND, which has operated in some European markets for 10 years. The company has said it was ready to launch the service on eastern and western Canada networks as soon as it received approval.
Bell, Rogers, Telus and others had objected to the new company, which has Egyptian ties, entering to market.

 

[DaSleeper]

I hope it brings the prices down, more in line with what consumers are paying in the states..
I have several friends , who on their way to Florida for the winter, shut down their Canadian cell phone and buy an American one at the first opportunity, just for the winter season....

 

[karrie]

I hope it brings the prices down, more in line with what consumers are paying in the states..
I have several friends , who on their way to Florida for the winter, shut down their Canadian cell phone and buy an American one at the first opportunity, just for the winter season....

I doubt it. It will take a long time for us to get the users/infrastructure ratios that Americans enjoy.

 

[DurkaDurka]

I hope it brings the prices down, more in line with what consumers are paying in the states..
I have several friends , who on their way to Florida for the winter, shut down their Canadian cell phone and buy an American one at the first opportunity, just for the winter season....

I agree, as it is, we are getting fleeced.

Hopefully we'll see some unlimited data plans offered like AT&T has in the US. The Canadian Providers really like to artificially limit smartphones here with the pittance of data they offer with smartphone plans.

 

[Francis2004]

I agree as well that we will not see lower prices anytime soon no better then Virgin..

They do say they plan on having Cell phones out by this Christmas tough.. Interesting..

 

[DurkaDurka]

The thing with Virgin though is that is was 50% owned by BCE from the get-go and it used Mobilities network. whereas Wind is building its own 3G network.

I definitely think we'll see some real competition here.

 

[Francis2004]

The thing with Virgin though is that is was 50% owned by BCE from the get-go and it used Mobilities network. whereas Wind is building its own 3G network.

I definitely think we'll see some real competition here.

They are going to put up infrastructure.. When are they planning to start and who are they using to start off with? Any clue ? As we have seen many Cell structures have had permit problems and that will only increase..

Who will be the ground carrier ? ( did they not want to have a deal with Videotron in QC and talk to Shaw Cable ? )

I am not surprised about Virgin as they had to be with someone.. Content ( Canadian ) was required and why Globalive was having issues..

Competition will come but when and how much of a break we will get in debatable.. If people expect a US pricing structure soon, it ain't going to happen..

 

[DurkaDurka]

They are going to put up infrastructure.. When are they planning to start and who are they using to start off with? Any clue ? As we have seen many Cell structures have had permit problems and that will only increase..

Who will be the ground carrier ? ( did they not want to have a deal with Videotron in QC and talk to Shaw Cable ? )

I am not surprised about Virgin as they had to be with someone.. Content ( Canadian ) was required and why Globalive was having issues..

Competition will come but when and how much of a break we will get in debatable.. If people expect a US pricing structure soon, it ain't going to happen..

Apparently they are ready to go in Calgary & Toronto, as early as next week and they have spectrum licenses for all of Canada minus Quebec.

Checkout this tool here, enter "Globalive" + your area code it it will display the closest Globalive tower to you. I live at University & Dundas, there is about a dozen of their towers within 5km of me.

http://www.jrmy.net/tafl/

I have been reading up on them at HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - WIND Mobile (Cell phone forum).

Not a clue who their ground carrier is, I assume they have built their own fibre link or lease excess capacity?

 

[Francis2004]

Apparently they are ready to go in Calgary & Toronto, as early as next week and they have spectrum licenses for all of Canada minus Quebec.

Checkout this tool here, enter "Globalive" + your area code it it will display the closest Globalive tower to you. I live at University & Dundas, there is about a dozen of their towers within 5km of me.

http://www.jrmy.net/tafl/

I have been reading up on them at HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - WIND Mobile (Cell phone forum).

Not a clue who their ground carrier is, I assume they have built their own fibre link or lease excess capacity?

Cool, they are ready to go in Vancouver as well as they show many Cell towers up and ready.. Very interesting.. :lol:

 

[DurkaDurka]

Cool, they are ready to go in Vancouver as well as they show many Cell towers up and ready.. Very interesting.. :lol:

I think they'll be offering in the larger cities initially, not sure how roaming will work though.

 

[Francis2004]

I think they'll be offering in the larger cities initially, not sure how roaming will work though.

I was just on their web site..

Yes roaming will be an issue.. I think I will wait 6 months to a year and see where this goes.. just like a new car model I will wait for the bugs to be worked out.,. :lol:

On the bright side it may cause Rogers to bring in new more competitive rates. I was told Jan 15th was the magic date ( Christmas rush passed and all )..

 

[Francis2004]

I'm in no rush as I am looking at options for late Jan early Feb anyway..

I just cancelled my Rocket stick and my BB Curve is not due to end till July..

 

[DurkaDurka]

I'm stuck with Rogers for another 2.5 years I'm hoping Rogers will spruce up their existing packages to make them a little more attractive though.

 

[Francis2004]

I'm stuck with Rogers for another 2.5 years I'm hoping Rogers will spruce up their existing packages to make them a little more attractive though.

Outch.. That's why I will pay my next phone outright.. no contracts..

Well in your benefit and mine, if Rogers lowers plan prices, we can stay on them and have the best of all worlds..

 

[DurkaDurka]

Outch.. That's why I will pay my next phone outright.. no contracts..

Well in your benefit and mine, if Rogers lowers plan prices, we can stay on them and have the best of all worlds..

I'm hoping so, next phone i get I will probably buy it outright. As it is, to cancel I have to pay a voice & data severance fee, works out to about $600.00.

 

[karrie]

Hubby was reading a list to me from work yesterday.... top 50 cell costs, name, title, etc., in his company. Some of these guys must be moving a TON of data, because the cell bills on the top of the tier ring into the $1000's.. PER MONTH. It's crazy how much it can cost.

 

[DurkaDurka]

Hubby was reading a list to me from work yesterday.... top 50 cell costs, name, title, etc., in his company. Some of these guys must be moving a TON of data, because the cell bills on the top of the tier ring into the $1000's.. PER MONTH. It's crazy how much it can cost.

Data overage charges are usually in the range of 3 cents per megabyte, so a gigabyte of over usage will cost about $30.00, yea, it can add up pretty quick.

 

[karrie]

Data overage charges are usually in the range of 3 cents per megabyte, so a gigabyte of over usage will cost about $30.00, yea, it can add up pretty quick.

Of course, most of the guys are in the upper crust of the upper crust in the company, so, they are justified in moving data like that. But one guy in the top 3 was a mere trucker... makes you wonder what data he's moving hey? lol.

 

[DurkaDurka]

Of course, most of the guys are in the upper crust of the upper crust in the company, so, they are justified in moving data like that. But one guy in the top 3 was a mere trucker... makes you wonder what data he's moving hey? lol.

lots of .jpg & .avi imagine, probably not the PG13 variety. lol

 

[Francis2004]

lots of .jpg & .avi imagine, probably not the PG13 variety. lol

lol..