![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Truth about Canadian Cellphone Service
Aug. 2nd, 2013 05:37 pmOver the past several days, I've been hearing a lot of commercials bemoaning the Canadian government's intent to allow US-based cellphone providers to buy small Canadian cellphone providers. These commercials take the form of simple, no-music, no-glitz affairs where a person, claiming to be some average Canadian who just loves Canada and has no agendas, talking about how the big bad US cellphone companies' taking over the small Canadian companies are "not Canadian". Sounds very patriotic, sounds very grass-roots, on the surface and from a distance it even sounds almost sincere.
The truth? The small cellphone companies in question have not been able to stay afloat. They are either sinking, about to sink, or have already sunk. If they are allowed to sink, then only the major cellphone players in Canada will be left, meaning greatly reduced competition and, inevitably, higher prices for the consumer, since there's no one to outbid. But, say the commercials, Canadian companies aren't being allowed to buy these small companies! How horrible, how un-Canadian! Stop to think for a minute, think beyond the commercial. Who would likely buy these companies? The big cellphone companies, of course. Again, competition is squelched, and the market doesn't require the companies to give consumers a reasonable price, costs go up.
I find that, in a situation such as this, the most important thing one can do is to follow the money. Who is paying for these ads? The ads are very low-key: no music, no special effects, just a person talking, as if spontaneously, about how patriotic they are. So obviously it's the small companies that are funding this, correct? Wrong. The commercials direct the listener to the Website http://www.fairforcanada.ca, at the bottom of which is the following:
Copyright 2013. Fair for Canada. Brought to you by your Canadian Wireless Companies, Bell, Rogers and TELUS
These are Canada's big three telecommunications giants, not the little grass-roots start-ups. These are the people whose corporate executives probably make more per year than everyone in your office combined. And these are the people who stand to gain the most from stifled competition. Whether the small companies go under, or whether they are bought out by the big three Canadian companies, the result is the same: monopoly for the big three, less competition, less innovation, higher prices (we're the only show in town, we set the prices).
I'm a patriotic Canadian. But I'm not going to go broke in the name of patriotism. If Canadians can't or won't give me reasonable prices, I'm happy to let someone in who will.
The truth? The small cellphone companies in question have not been able to stay afloat. They are either sinking, about to sink, or have already sunk. If they are allowed to sink, then only the major cellphone players in Canada will be left, meaning greatly reduced competition and, inevitably, higher prices for the consumer, since there's no one to outbid. But, say the commercials, Canadian companies aren't being allowed to buy these small companies! How horrible, how un-Canadian! Stop to think for a minute, think beyond the commercial. Who would likely buy these companies? The big cellphone companies, of course. Again, competition is squelched, and the market doesn't require the companies to give consumers a reasonable price, costs go up.
I find that, in a situation such as this, the most important thing one can do is to follow the money. Who is paying for these ads? The ads are very low-key: no music, no special effects, just a person talking, as if spontaneously, about how patriotic they are. So obviously it's the small companies that are funding this, correct? Wrong. The commercials direct the listener to the Website http://www.fairforcanada.ca, at the bottom of which is the following:
Copyright 2013. Fair for Canada. Brought to you by your Canadian Wireless Companies, Bell, Rogers and TELUS
These are Canada's big three telecommunications giants, not the little grass-roots start-ups. These are the people whose corporate executives probably make more per year than everyone in your office combined. And these are the people who stand to gain the most from stifled competition. Whether the small companies go under, or whether they are bought out by the big three Canadian companies, the result is the same: monopoly for the big three, less competition, less innovation, higher prices (we're the only show in town, we set the prices).
I'm a patriotic Canadian. But I'm not going to go broke in the name of patriotism. If Canadians can't or won't give me reasonable prices, I'm happy to let someone in who will.
