Cellphone plans more costly after merger: watchdog

Certain cellphone plans in Western Canada are not as cheap as they were before the Rogers- Shaw merger, Canada's competition watchdog says.

Jeanne Pratt, the Competition Bureau's senior deputy commissioner of mergers and monopolistic practices, told MPs on Monday that before Shaw Communications Inc. was purchased by Rogers Communications Inc. last April, the company was “a particularly growing and disruptive competitive force” in B.C. and Alberta.

“They offered very aggressive pricing for bundled wireless plans,” she said.

“So far, we haven't seen any information that would suggest that Rogers is offering comparable pricing to Shaw Mobile post-transaction, so that is of a concern.”

Pratt was testifying at the House of Commons' industry committee along with representatives from the CRTC, as MPs study the accessibility and affordability of wireless and broadband services in Canada.

Rogers said it wasn't immediately clear which wireless plans Pratt was referring to, but that of the cellphone plans it offers today, both in Western Canada and nationally, none of them are more expensive than before the merger with Shaw.

The company said Pratt may have been referring to bundled packages with residential offered to the 500,000 Shaw Mobile customers it absorbed. Rogers said it has committed to price freezes for five years for those customers.

MPs on the committee sounded the alarm in January, when Rogers confirmed prices were going up by an average of $5 for affected wireless customers not on contract and some Bell Canada customers were also told their wireless bills were set to increase.

The Competition Bureau had opposed Rogers' $26-billion takeover of Shaw, arguing that approving the merger would reduce competition and result in higher cellphone bills, poorer service, and fewer options for consumers.