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CRTC starts ownership review of Dave Wireless (Mobilicity)

By on March 9, 2010 at 9:05am in Mobile News, Mobilicity, Various News

Mobilicity (formally Dave Wireless) invested $243.1-million for 10 licenses during the Canadian Wireless Spectrum Auction and will be launching their new wireless service first in Toronto this Spring, then followed by Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa.

Leading Mobilicity is famed entrepreneur John Bitove and they are financed by ING with $125 million and $75 million from Canadian investors GMP Securities L.P. and National Bank Financial Inc.In addition to the financing they have brought on a heavyweight Board of Directors with Paul Godfrey (National Post publisher), Michael Neuman (ex-Bell CEO), John R. Barnett (President of Rothmans Benson & Hedges) and Michael Moskowitz (President and CEO of XM Canada).

The CRTC has announced they have started their plans to review the ownership and control of the company. No worries as the CRTC in its letter to the company state that Mobilicity “appears to comply with the legal control requirements of the Act”… so this will not be as lengthy the Globalive review.

In the letter from Secretary General, Robert A. Morin, said “With regard to control in fact, the Commission notes inter alia that on a fully diluted basis, 67% of the voting interest will be held by the largest Canadian investors and that the largest non-Canadian investor has provided less than 55% of the total capital of the company… At this time, and based on the information available, the Commission considers that the ownership structure of DAVE Wireless is of a sufficiently complex nature and that it holds precedential value for the industry and the general public… Accordingly, based on the framework set out in the Policy, the Commission hereby provides public notice that it will be proceeding with a Type 2 review of the ownership and control of DAVE Wireless in order to determine its eligibility to operate as a Canadian telecommunications common carrier.”

When Mobilicity launches they will offer “No Contract. No Credit Check. Unlimited Wireless” and have brand name handsets like BlackBerry, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and possibly the Google Nexus One.

Check out the full letter here at the CRTC

Related posts:

  1. Dave Wireless? Fresh Wireless… how about “Mobilicity”?
  2. Dave Wireless chooses “Mobilicity” as brand name
  3. Dave Wireless makes first network call
  4. DAVE Wireless to “accelerate its launch” with $125m ING loan

Discussion

8 comments for “CRTC starts ownership review of Dave Wireless (Mobilicity)”

  1. lol i love how they get directors from companies that went bankrupt xm radio and national post(canwest)lets see how mobilicity does with this “stellar” cast

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    Posted by CellNerd | March 9, 2010, 11:18 am
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  2. Somehow I’m not so sure about seeing the Nexus One in Mobilicity’s lineup. It’s too high-end for their demographic, and I don’t think they’re offering data initially.

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    Posted by Nathan Bolton | March 9, 2010, 12:32 pm
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  3. I have a solution, do away with the bloated and corrupt institution of the CRTC.

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    Posted by Why have a CRTC | March 9, 2010, 6:29 pm
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  4. Why bother, it’s not like they are going to actually be competitive in the market. They are launching too late and they have hardly any coverage zones.

    Waste of time to review something that isn’t going to have any impact.

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    Posted by Jaded Illusion | March 11, 2010, 2:59 pm
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  5. To Jaded Illusion:

    What is your definition of ‘competitive’ and competition? Wind has been criticized that it joined the market too early, but if it is enough to elicit $150 ‘WIND-port-in” from Bell, I’d say that competition is improving in the Telco sector

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    Posted by Energetic Clarity | March 14, 2010, 9:51 am
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  6. Energetic Clarity if you want a definition of Competitive and Competition go look it up in a dictionary, I am not your teacher. My statement was an opinion of my own, not something you need comment on.

    Where do you think that Bell got the $150 from in order to pay the “WIND port-in” offer? From the termination fees that the poor customers paid in the first place to be able to leave. It is a knee-jerk reaction to the “WIND port-in” offer. Nothing more, nothing less.

    Nothing I have seen/heard/read about any of the new providers instils me with a great deal of confidence about any of them presenting a viable change in the market in the near future this was not just aimed at Mobilicity. Apparently you must be a Mobilicity support whose toes I have stepped on. I’m so sorry for you.

    I do have one comment for them though – Mobilicity need to start listening to the large number of target consumers in the market who hate their name.

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    Posted by Jaded Illusion | March 18, 2010, 11:52 am
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  7. please send my number bill payment my number 6477075898

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    Posted by amandeep gill | August 15, 2010, 6:00 pm
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  8. Mobilicity seems to be a fly by night operator. I believe they have run out of options and are trying to consolidate by shutting down their corporate stores. These are typical systems of a company in distress.

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    Posted by Sean Caldwell | August 21, 2010, 9:45 am
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