I received a politely worded brush off from the Canadian Competition Bureau’s Law Officer Stephanie Paolin yesterday. While I’m sure Ms. Paolin was merely “following orders”, it was this blasé approach to competition in the Canadian telecommunications space that has allowed the financial transgressions against the paying Canadian public to take place over the last two decades.
The gist of the letter was that the Rogers is not a monopoly due to the competition it is engaged in with Bell, Telus, Alliant, T-baytel, Sasktel, Virgin, Solo and Koodo. Naturally this position is one of ignorance; while the handsets may appear similar in form, they are not – as stated in the letter – similar in function. Furthermore, Rogers/Fido operates a GSM network while Telus, Bell, et al. operate via CDMA. It should be considered (and considered as the foremost fact) that Rogers/Fido has no competition in the GSM network space.
The exact quote was
It is the Bureau’s view that Rogers does not hold a dominant position in the market for mobile wireless telephony services in Canada. Rogers is in direct competition with two other major wireless providers, in addition to a number of smaller carriers, all of whom offer handsets that are functional substitutes for the iPhone. Moreover, Rogers’ recently-announced pricing plans for the iPhone do not constitute an anti-competitive act as these pricing plans do not have an intended negative effect on a competitor that is predatory, disciplinary or exclusionary. Rather, they reflect an attempt by Rogers to market a product consumers find desirable and set prices accordingly. This may ultimately be disciplined by competitor responses, and/or by consumers rejecting such a strategy. In either case, market forces will determine if these prices can be sustained.
The bolding is mine – but I found this curious. The competition bureau is not interested that the pricing may be predatory towards consumers. Instead, it is merely concerned with maintaining the status quo for businesses. The long and the short of it is that the competition bureau flipped me an eloquent bird and told me to go stuff myself. It’s good to see that we’ve got these agencies in place – what would we do without such powerful siphons on the public purse?
I was interested to see how the iPhone issue would pan out; with only two days to go to the iPhone launch the local Vancouver Rogers affiliate stations were going to have to start covering it sometime.
While the rest of the mainstream media in Canada were busy compiling detailed reports on the heinous nature of the charges Rogers was proposing for Canadian iPhone customers the Rogers affiliates here in Vancouver were notably silent. JACK FM and NEWS 1130 made no mention of the outrage, nor did they comment on the 50,000 signature petition that grew up practically overnight. They didn’t cover the rise of ruinediphone.com even though the spokesman for the site was in their own back yard.
It seems that NEWS 1130 and JACK FM are the Canadian equivalent of FOX NEWS; this selective reporting of the fact – or in this case, absence of reporting, is a disservice to the Canadian public.
I listened to both stations, day after day – and nary a peep was heard. While it’s well within the rights of these stations to decide what makes news, it’s clear that their silence on this issue was motivated by the corporate logo on their paycheck.
As for me? NEWS 1130 and JACK FM no longer have a place on my radio dial. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
If you don’t like the price of an iPhone, don’t buy it. One side-effect of the year-long wait for iPhones in Canada is that other gadgets, such as the much-talked about Samsung Instinct, are providing new competition.
If Rogers finds it has priced itself out of the market, it won’t take a petition to ring in lower prices.
Bingo. If you’ve been thinking about buying a Canadian iPhone, it’s time to reconsider. This simply can’t go on the way it has.
The Globe and Mail published an article today detailing some of the pain that Canadian customers are experiencing with the iPhone. The article has received over 200 comments so far – all of them resoundingly negative. It appears that this mega-corporation may have pushed the buttons of some Canadians just a little too hard – in a time when gas prices are astronomical, when governments are ramming copyright legislation down our throats… perhaps the iPhone is the final straw.
Some of the more elegant quotes from the article:
“Rogers has outflanked its rivals, Bell Mobility Inc. andTelus Corp., by bringing the newest technology to market first and by canny investments in network upgrades. It’s not going to give away the farm to satisfy some Apple diehards…”
Marketing Consultant Luke Sklar – spinning this PR disaster as hard as he can.
In relation to Rogers having a GSM network capable of supporting the iPhone:
Liz Hamilton – the most hated woman in corporate communications in Canada.
It’s amusing to see the PR crew from Rogers forlornly attempting to add a positive tone to this story. The exclamations of “value!” and “customer usage!” reeks of desperation. It’s a pity that this “visionary” company didn’t see this backlash coming.
If you use Rogers – for ANY service – it’s time to take a look at the competition. Stand up for your own rights and for those of your fellow Canadians and tell them to push off.
