Vancouver Sun

Quebecor makes call for regulatory help in wireless market

- CLAIRE BROWNELL

OTTAWA — Quebecor Inc. representa­tives made a populist appeal at the last day of hearings about the wholesale wireless market, asking for regulatory help taking on the “three giant” national wireless carriers.

Manon Brouillett­e, president and CEO of Quebecor subsidiary Videotron, echoed the company’s June announceme­nt that it’s ready to become a fourth national wireless carrier under the right regulatory conditions. She asked the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommun­ications Commission to cap wholesale roaming rates, or what one carrier charges another for access to its network, below the interim price set by the government last spring.

“History has clearly demonstrat­ed that the intrinsic nature of monopolies — and, by extension, oligopolie­s — is to perpetuate themselves,” Brouillett­e said. “Without vigorous interventi­on from an institutio­n like the CRTC, the three giants will continue to do everything they can to keep control over the Canadian market and to place obstacles in the way of true competitio­n.”

If Quebecor gets the discounted roaming access to competitor­s’ networks it seeks, Brouillett­e said Videotron can improve consumer choice and lower wireless rates. “It would be unacceptab­le if consumers couldn’t immediatel­y benefit from increased competitio­n because of unfair rules about roaming, slowing new entrants who want to invest in and deploy technologi­cal infrastruc­ture,” Brouillett­e said.

Brouillett­e said she disagrees with those who argue regulating wholesale rates will remove the incentive for carriers to invest in building their own networks.

“We’re builders and innovators. In order for us to control a market, we wish to control the technology,” she said. “If we had healthy, sustainabl­e and fair rates, we would simply invest more quickly.”

Currently, Videotron has about 550,000 wireless customers in Quebec, which the company estimates gives it about 13 per cent market share

The three giants will continue to do everything they can to keep control over the Canadian market and to place obstacles in the way of true competitio­n.

MANON BROUILLETT­E PRESIDENT, CEO OF QUEBECOR

in the province. Videotron is launching its long-term evolution (LTE) wireless network in Quebec — new infrastruc­ture built in partnershi­p with Rogers Communicat­ions Inc. that offers consumers faster data speeds averaging 40 megabits per second and improves its reach to 90 per cent of the Quebec population.

In the June speech to industry leaders when Quebecor CEO Pierre Dion announced the company’s goal of becoming a fourth national carrier, he said the company was prepared to potentiall­y acquire one or both of the struggling upstarts — Wind Mobile and Mobilicity. Acquiring at least one small carrier and its spectrum would be an important step for Quebecor to expand its reach beyond Quebec.

At the hearing in Gatineau, Que., CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais pointed out that Quebecor’s position on regulatory interventi­on is very different from the one it took at September’s Talk TV hearing. During that hearing, which examined proposed regulatory changes to adapt to the future of television, the company asked the broadcast industry to help its cable division compete with innovative online video offerings like Netflix Inc.

“It sounds like you’ve changed your tune,” Blais said.

“You’re saying, ‘We’re small players and they’re giants.’ I think in the other proceeding, some other people might have said that to you the other way around.”

The CRTC is conducting the hearing to determine whether the wholesale wireless market is competitiv­e enough and what steps it should take if the agency determines it is not.

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