Battle for Canada’s airwaves grows fierce

[CHIMO]

Source: Torstar

OTTAWA—The noisy battle for the hearts and minds of Canada’s 27 million wireless users took shape on a quiet July day in a boardroom just down the street from Parliament Hill.

In an unusual show of collective corporate power, the top executives of Canada’s big three telecommunications firms filed into a federal government office tower to meet, one at a time, with the man who could decide the future of this country’s $19-billion wireless industry.

On the other side of the table sat Industry Minister James Moore — just 14 days into his new portfolio and on the hot seat over a coming lucrative sale of coveted airwave licences and the possible entry into the Canadian market by American telecom giant Verizon.

Days earlier, these same Bell, Rogers and Telus executives had written Stephen Harper warning that loopholes in the rules governing the airwave sale would give unfair advantage to foreign competitors. They called on the prime minister to take “direct and immediate” action to put in place “fair and balanced” rules.



Read more: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/08/16/battle_for_canadas_airwaves_grows_fierce.html

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/08/16/pol-james-moore-verizon-telecoms.html

[DissidentVoice]

1. At least Canada still has the CBC, thank God

I live in a border city. I get a lot of my news from the Canadian media, because it's usually a lot more objective than the U.S. media.

[applegrove]

2. Yup. We have the CBC. But I don't know for how long.

[blkmusclmachine]

3. They're starting to twist Canada around their pinkie finger.

Hoping to strangle the life blood out of a free media, I guess.

IMHO

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. Starting?? - USA's already got first dibs on our oil, elcictricity

.
.
.

working on our water, military etc.,

During one of our blackouts,

New York was selling us back electricity at gouging prices, which came from Canada to begin with!

Our government will deprive us of Oil, hydro, whatever, to keep the USA happy,

or maybe it's just so we won't get invaded/bombed.

(sigh)

CC

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. I have no sympathy for Canadian telecoms

Canadian wireless companies have some of most consumer unfriendly policies in the industrialized world. My cell phone bill is 2-3 times what it was in the US, and that's not including how they gouge me when I drive over the border into Washington State.

I'm no fan of the US telecoms either, mainly due to their compliance with illegal surveillance orders (except my old company Sprint) , one of the reasons I immigrated. But if Verizon enters the Canada market and causes rates to tumble and policies to improve, I'm ok with that.

As for the CBC being impartial, not so much. They are a branch of the Harper govt. and while not as bad as Fox News, they don't do much questioning of sources. One example: the real estate bubble is crumbling, but CBC dutifully reports the press releases from the RE Industry ,complete with made up statistics, as facts proving the market is surging back.