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“It was a bad idea”, says Wind Mobile financial backer on entering Canada
At the end of Q3 2011 Wind Mobile amassed 358,000 subscribers and their main financial backer, Naguib Sawiris, says getting involved in Canada and launching the wireless brand “was a bad idea”. In 2008 the Canadian government held an auction and set-aside a specific portion of spectrum for new entrants to encourage competition, Sawiris’ Orascom Telecom dumped $500 million and helped Tony Lacavera’s Globalive launch WIND. The government auction raised a whopping $4 billion, $2 billion more than expected.
In an interview with the CBC, Sawiris basically said the reason it was a bad move was because there’s so much political red tape, mainly due to Canada’s strict foreign ownership rules, that “I don’t know why Canada wants to be matched with China… There’s only two countries [with] very ridiculous old laws, and nothing is happening… there’s no real political will here to introduce competition into this closed market”.
That’s not all Sawiris boldly stated. He said the Big 3, Rogers, Bell and TELUS, are “pampered” here and all have similar ARPU numbers every quarter, “Why would an Egyptian like me be in 25 countries, and a big company [stay] here? Because they’re pampered. How can you create innovation if you close up yourself like that? What’s the argument? I don’t see it.”
The government, and carriers, are focused on the upcoming 700 Mhz auction. WIND says they have over $500 million to invest – if the conditions are right. Those conditions are ensuring that there’s a set-aside for new entrants like in 2008. Rogers, Bell and TELUS all want an “open, free and fair” auction, but to compete long term, new players want a set-aside. If this doesn’t happen, Sawiris says “Our position is clear: if they don’t set aside, we won’t bid for it — why would we go in and just increase the price so the government makes more money and we get devastated”.
WIND Mobile has a goal of accumulating 1.5 million subscribers by the end of 2012.
Thoughts?
Source: CBC
(Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
Discussion
120 comments for ““It was a bad idea”, says Wind Mobile financial backer on entering Canada”
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It was a good idea. WIND can become Canada’s equivalent of Sprint and/or T-Mobile. While both budget American companies may not be worth as much as AT&T or Verizon, they offer value to customers. That’s a good way to sell service for sure. WIND just needs to stay positive and continue to expand.
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Unlike Wind, both Sprint and T-Mobile have coverage.
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Really, Bob? Tell that to my T-mobile SIM card that can’t even pick up a voice signal in North Dakota.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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ummmm is that guy in the pic using a razr? lol
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If the foreign ownership rules were changed, don’t you think one or more of the big US carriers would invest in one or more of the big 3 instead of building a new network from scratch? Canada’s market isn’t that big. We used to have 5 carriers in Canada which whittled down to 3 because the market dictated it. Which sane person ever thought they could start a new carrier from scratch, in a country the vast physical size of Canada yet a market size 1 tenth of the US, and compete at the same level as the big 3?
What Wind should have done, and I’ve said this before, is use the Westjet model. Start in one market, build a reliably solid network, build a good reputation, expand to other markets as financial sanity dictates.
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Hmm. I don’t know why CaddMan see the straight point here. Let me make it clear. I used to live in one of the third world countries and I did not see people complaining about cell phone bill with so low income!! However, here the scenario is totally different. Even with much higher income I got ripped off by our so beloved Canadian companies.
Yeah I know people would argue that the population density is low here. I agree with that. However, the reality is that the big 3 are just too greedy to lower the ARPU and keep it affordable for most of the Canadians.
I love to see the Canadian companies growing and I don’t have any personal bias towards the new entrants. However, after got robbed my our beloved big 3, I have learned my lesson.
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How can a company stay positive if there are so many barrier to entry in Canada. Canadian government should change the policy of foreign ownership. Yes, it is true that the big 3 have been ripping their respective customers left and right. It is about time that something has to be done about it and Wind and other new entrants are changing it.
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The spectrum should be set aside for the upcoming auction..
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I mean for the new entrants..
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I am a wind customer and I fully agree. This industry is improperly bundled with broadcasting. The foreign ownership rules are to protect canadian content. Telecom has nothing to do with this. Wind really is a breath of fresh air. I never have to worry about overages and my bill is always the same. I hope they crush the big three. Side note, I was a telus client for nine years and they offered me nothing when I said I was leaving.
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This guy is right.
Foreign ownership rules are stupid in the cellphone industry.
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“some Egyptians”
Let’s judge people on their character, not their nationality.
And as he pointed out, we are not doing the Canadian economy any favours with the current scheme. Instead it has bred a group of inefficient and monopolistic companies that wouldn’t stand a chance in real competition.
Where our laws try to promote Canadian companies they should try to create companies that are competitive and can succeed in the world.
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When it comes to these things this country is a joke.. the comparison to China hits the nail on the head. This protectionist garbage needs to go die in a fire.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Because Canadian companies do not always serve us well.
Cellphones is one area where Canadians get ripped off the most. It’s also the area where foreign ownership is the most restricted.
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So you have no problem buying an american/japanese/korean/german car but your cellphone carrier must be Canadian?
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So you’re fine getting robbed blind just because they are Canadians?
I’m all for local ownership, but not if it costs an arm and a leg. We want to support Canadian companies but Canadian companies are not supporting us with fair pricing and fair contracts. Every good relationship is two way.
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TH8MA3,
How much of that money do you think stays in Canada? The jobs and salaries of the employees? No more so than what Wind pays its employees. Equipment? Nope… it’s all Nokia or other brands.
The more competition we have in this market, the better served ALL Canadians are. If everyone’s cellphone bill suddenly dropped by $10/month, how much extra spending/investing money would Canadians and Canadian companies suddenly have? It would be a huge net BENEFIT to Canada and Canadians. Not to mention how much added money would be saved through people using mobile telecom more in their work.
I say open the floodgates and let AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Orascom do their best.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Canadian Company?!…well Public Mobile which is a new entrant..is majority owned by ZTE corporation in China…does it really matter who owns the company…what difference does it make? Where do you think all these cellphones were manufactured, they are all made in Asia…it’ll help canadian economy if they would make there phones in Canada… Regardless..canadians dont have that kind of investors to invest 500milions $ on a project…
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Keep the wealth to Canada? lol man your comment is so naive and shows how uneducated you are..sorry to say that but you are not sharing any wealth, Rogers and Bell are sharing the wealth and charging you more and more ofcourse the CRTC supports them as long as they put money in the CRTC big guys pockets
Canada is a great country but when it comes to technology it is retarded.. we have to admit that, look at netflix..they cannot stream anything because of the stupid political issues
Everything is available in USA but not in Canada, the prices are way higher even before tax! running a business costs more.. I understand that USA does have a huge economy issue but that doesn’t mean if we can offer the same prices then we will have the same issue..
My 2 cents: Harper would kiss USA a$$ when it comes to USA taking a polotical decision that Canada has nothing about.. he will follow them like a puppy but when it comes to big corporations he will take the money and let them bully the customers..
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of course! feed the big 3 when they clearly really are “pampered” by the government and the CRTC! So think your argument again. I would love to see a true Canadian company breakthrough and kick butt but that clearly is not going to happen. I hope it does, I also hope there was no winter!
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And you think that “local” companies always help our economy? Bell is sending as much of its staff as it possibly can to India and other developing economies so as to cut costs; in the end, what little cash remains in Canada goes into the pockets of the few bosses and the rest moves offshore…
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Just take a trip to Manila in the Philippines and while touring around, you’ll find about 3 rather large skyscrapers with the Telus logo on the top around the city. Telus doesn’t any services there, those are office buildings to support the business here in Canada. Now tell me again how our Canadian companies are keeping the wealth in Canada.
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TH8MA3
Having Canadian companies keeps the wealth in Canada you say?
is that why when you call tech support sometimes you get india?
Anyway
Foreign investment brings competition and also creates jobs, think about that for a moment.
More money coming in to canada from these investors, and creating jobs
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@John: That’s what they want you to believe. Being someone from an industrial city that’s all about foreign investors I can tell you the reality is FAR from the spouted hype. First they hit our steel mill, buying it out. Few months down the road they tried to oust the Canadian workers because they decided to get work visas for those from their own country (India). Thankfully the union put a stop to that. Then we have the wind farm, US investors got that one built. Opened up 300 jobs, for one year, then once the towers were up they fired everyone except 10 and we found out that ALL of the power was being sent to the USA. Now we’ve got investors with a solar farm, and everyone is happy to be working again. Don’t even get me started on this US oil pipeline. How long do you think those jobs will last? Politicians love these “Bandaid Solutions”, they make everyone happy right before an election… So please, don’t put “Foreign Investors” on such a high pedestal. They’re still humans, and they still care about only one thing; How to help their own people/country.
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Hey, at least WIND is doing better than Public Mobile and Mobilicity
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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He’s right until the CRTC/Canadian Government relaxes the “laws” of doing business in Canada to stimulate competition, we will continue to have the highest ARPU numbers. This means we may have some smaller providers that can attract some customers with lower cost plans but with the spectrum needed to compete they will eventually either dry up or be bought out. Signal strength is a make or break advantage for the “BIG 3″ due to so many towers already in service.
If a company is afraid of competition then they must think they have a flawed system that may not succeed going forward or why would they deter it? Then again monopoly giants just want your money and don’t really care about being serviceable!! Just My 2 cents!!
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They need to set aside portions of the spectrum for new entrants, if they don’t then the big three will only get bigger.
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the big 3 getting bigger…what a nightmare that’d be eh..ugh
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“Sending our money to other countries” is a narrow way of looking at things – when you buy a car, you have an option of buying German, Japanese, etc. and this can be applied to almost any industry out there, from groceries to electronics.
Point of that matter is, more competition from the outside will derail the current monopoly (or triopoly) posed by the Big 3, and Canadians will be able to have more choice and pay less on what is now a basic necessity in life (for the most part). Some kind of hybrid nationalized + foreign corporate interest would be ideal. Right now everything is more internally nationalized and the small guys don’t have the chips to play in the game.
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Do we have any truly “Canadian” companies anymore? Sure, their head offices may be here, but most of them outsource as much work as they can to foreign countries anyway, not to mention that very little of the product or materials that are made/used come from here. If it means more competition, I’d rather introduce foreign owners as long as they abide fully by our laws and standards, than have the monopolies we have now who do as they please with a government that not only protects them, but enables them to rip off the ordinary consumer. Last I checked most major Canadian corporations were using every means necessary to avoid paying taxes, so I’m just not sure how much they benefit us.
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Canadian Companies?….. remember Nortel, Corel. Oh wait…Nevermind(sic)
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The only reason the big 3 have better signal is that they have been around a lot longer…. if you give the new entries the same time span and resources, they could provide the same quality of service
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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lol protect the Canadian infrastructure? are you kidding me? Canada is the biggest oil supplier to USA yet USA has cheaper gas prices lol the Canadian Governments outsource all of our wealth to other companies and they sell it to USA .. man this inbred mentality gotta stop right now.. that is why Harper was elected …lol
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This is a mess that won’t get fixed cause our government sucks…Sucks really bad.
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Who says supporting the Big 3 feeds the Canadian economy? Have you seen the HUGE Business Process Outsourcing operation of Telus in the Philippines?
I’ve called Rogers support once and they had to hang up and call me back. The call-back number was from Florida. It seems Rogers work in tandem with some US companies for a consolidated call center, because the people I was speaking with looks like they have absolutely no clue about Rogers except what they were reading off their screens.
I don’t know what Bell has, I have never done business with them. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they have an off-shore office as well.
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@Dave
You must work for one of the Big 3 because you purposely left out part of Sawiris’ quote. But in case you simply overlooked it, let me add it for you.
“Because they’re pampered. How can you create innovation if you close up yourself like that?”
You say skewing the market, I call it market correction due to a long period of market insulation. This is called protectionism and it offers nothing positive for consumers. All this guy wants is a fair playing field and some help so that the big three stop their price fixing and agreement to push any new entrants out.
Year after year, Canadian are ‘winning’ the award for being charged the most for wireless services. I guess you think that is a good thing. If so, I hope you enjoy your monthly $6.95 access fee.
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come to montreal, quebec…. 2nd biggest city in canada would help, but videotron won the bid for quebec.. we are still getting screwed by all sides.
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why don’t you go at Public Mobile ?
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People read between the lines, he wants the goverment to bend the rules again for him, thats the way he built his fortune. I dont buy this , he knew the rules from the start. this is all bs
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I totally agree with you Cole, now we know where Tony Lacavera gets his lines from. “Oh look at the Big Bad Wolf, he is big and strong and wants to hurt me, please change the rules just for me so that I can compete”. One of favourite Tony lines is “Rogers allows Chatr a Soft Handoff, why can’t we get a Soft Handoff” uhm, the last time I checked Tony, there is NO need to have any handoffs for Chatr, it’s the same network, you on the other hand are a totally different network. And when you were writing up the contract, you obviously had NO problems with a Hard handoff because you signed the contract but didn’t b***h until Chatr came along with their advertising.
Sawaris knew the rules coming into this game, so why is he bitching?
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I dunno, but I’d pay more for better signal… it really comes down to no signa = no service = useless haha. if you want more canadians to answer the phones from any company, you need to make it known that you won’t deal with offshoring. the problem then is that local help is more expensive that offshoring. so… if you want cheap then it dosen’t mean it’ll good, if you want good, it won’t be cheap… so pick one… don’t complain that you’re paying too much for good service and don’t complain that you get no service when you don’t pay much for it. You can’t have it both ways.
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It’s funny, that here in Canada we have these stringent rules on foreign ownership, but yet most of our big companies outsource everything anyways, and not within the country. The only protectionism going on is protecting the profits of the big 3, while sending all the jobs elsewhere. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
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Thats INCORRECT! Each company of the big 3 employ close to 30,000 Canadians directly and indirectly employ thousands more.
Check their financial statements, it lists their employee head count.
Don’t just say something because you “think” it’s true. Back it up.
Also, I am not saying they do not outsource employees. I am only stating the legal facts of their head count.
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Sorry Cliff, but you’re wrong. I work at the Burnaby Call Centre for Rogers. Just a few minutes away from where I work is the TELUS Call Centre. In the heart of Downtown Vancouver is the Bell Call Centre. The big 3 have loads of call centres in Canada with tens of thousands of Canadian employees. Your theory was just proven wrong.
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you may think you’re talking to someone in india, china or the phillipines when you’re talking to the big3 customer service, but chances are that the people those accents belong to are just as canadian as you
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He said that he is an industrialist, thus stop crying and pay like did in the other countries. Orascom in its own words: http://www.orascomtelecom.com/about/Contents/default.aspx?ID=765 the world’s sixth largest mobile telecommunications provider by number of subscribers with operations in 21 countries serving 186 million customers.
Again in his own words:
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/crisis-in-egypt/the-billionaire-caught-up-in-egypts-reform-and-canadas-mobile-debate/article1898230/?service=mobile
“I have been offered by two of them to buy me out at a very significant profit,” Mr. Sawiris said. “But that means I’m a broker, not an industrialist. It’s against my saga, against my history … And this, I would consider it as a bribe.”
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Ok so if this guy claims that Wind is a Canadian Co why isn’t Anthony the one appearing on TV, Wind is managed by people that come form Orascom head quarters around the world, folks open your eyes there is no way this guy wants out. He would never get a fair price for his business by doing this, since when you pay the high price when the seller wants out ??? doesn’t make sense . This is purely manipulation and business tricks to influence autorities that will decide on foreign ownership and spectrum auction rules later this year…
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I’ve been saying this for a long time and I’ll say it again.
To all the protectionists out there who are also upset at the crappy pricing we get in this country, YOU DESERVE TO BE GOUGED for having that FAKE patriotism. Bend over and take it.
As for the majority of cell phone users in this country, we would all benefit from cheaper prices regardles of who provides it and regardless where the company resides.
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What a stupid marketing ploy. Does anyone think that an active investor would make that kind of statement on the CBC?
Firstly, they are just getting the hype going before the mad Christmas rush, please support us we are the underdog. Secondly,and most important, the federal government will announce that only the new entrants can bid on the new spectrum, or most of it. I do agree that only the new entrants should be able to bid on the new spectrum. People need to support one of the new kids on the block. It is a benefit to all Canadians if the new entrants succeed.
P.S. hurry up and get better so my telus bill will go down.
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Here is some food for thought. The Conservative Govt made an Election Pledge to balance the budget by 2014 and now they are dialing that promise back a bit, this means they need MONEY. So, do you really think they will set aside all or most of the spectrum for the new entrants and only get 1 Billion Dollars(If they are lucky to get that much) or allow the BIG3 to over bid and get $4 Billion. Yes, they want to open up competition, but they want to stay in power and if the budget is not balanced by the new date, they will suffer in the next election. Just my thoughts…
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Government should put aside the new spectrum for new entrants.This is crazy we get no customer service and no value for our buck.Why is it so hard for us to be like other countries? bring some real competition to the market.
Our cellular and internet service market needs competition.have you ever tried calling Shaw,Bell,Telus or Rogers? asking for better rate plan? most of the time they ignore you.Why do you thing that’s the case?
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I think the real problem for Wind (and Probably Mobi) is that the market they are trying to play in is well served with the Koodo’s, Virgin and Fido, yet they do offer better rates but still very similar. I think that they aimed too high, paid too many and not getting the return base on market saturation in the middle segment. Nothing to do with laws and regulations. From what I read here in the last week Public seems on the right track because they are aiming to the prepaid market and are basically alone with a very low cost structure, Moby is dying and now Orascom wants to go out. I think Mobi, Wind and Public need to work together asap
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All he wants to do is fire all the Canadian staff and increase the staff in the Egypt centre and also the philippines. Drive by the call centre on Eglinton & Satiellite take a peek in the Windows at all the empty desks and all of 15 employees there at one time. What a joke of a company.
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The only way we as Canadians are able to keep the playing field level is to write letters directly to the Industry Minister so that he knows that Canadians do care about competition, that we aren’t stupid and not knowing that Rogers, Bell and Telus just want the whole spectrum to themselves.
We need Mobilicity, Public Mobile and Wind. More importantly, we need to take down those archaeic foreign ownership laws, they are severely outdated and wreaks of protectionism that shouldn’t exist in such a marketplace.
Rogers, Bell and Telus are like 30 year old kids still living with their parents and requires the stupid protectionism law, it’s high time we introduce them to the real world by rescinding that foreign competition restriction.
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Maybe if you offered your services in Montreal? It’s like, one of the biggest cities in Canada? Ever hear of Montreal?
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Why shift Canadian profits overseas during a recession when the Canadian corporations are profitable during an economic downspin? I can see it being viable as a temporary issue, but if it remains for the long term, then i am inclined to agree.
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If they would hurry up and expand to Northern Ontario they would gain a few more subs. I am willing to switch but they need to be willing to expand.
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Northern Ontario will be one of the LAST places they expand to. The population is way too sparse
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@Wu
Why don’t we cut of your oil (because you are really a Chinese national) and send you back to the stone age.
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I have to pay either way. I would rather my money go to my own government then Egypt’s.
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Blanket all of Southern Ontario with coverage, then I’ll go with Wind. Until then I won’t touch them.
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Canadian ownership regulations are not designed to protect the consumer or even really the economy. It’s for national security. Do you really want a chinese company owning and having complete control over a large portion of the nations telecommunications when they invade us for all the fresh water and land we have?
these regulations are designed to keep ownership of key industries and technologies in the hands of those friendly or compliant to the Canadian Government.
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That was very good lobby of the government.
Don’t do what I say? I’ll pull funding and cut your dream for competition.
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So by not allowing foreign investment into Canada, by that same logic, Canadian companies should not be allowed to invest in foreign countries ? Canadian companies have benefitted from being allowed to invest in other countries, how is this any different?
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There’s a good reason why WIND should have been prevented coming in, and that is to keep the juicy dividends flowing from stock in BCE, T, and ROG! Keep the money train flowing baby! Bascially I own shares in BCE and T, they help finance my lifesytle in a tax efficient manner! The more peopel texting, and downloading data and voice from them, the higher the profits = higher dividends and share price
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If the Canadian Gov’t (and the people of Canada) set aside spectrum… will they build out to rural Canada? I doubt it! The big three serve all of Canada. Wind is only interested in serving the area with the highest population. Not good.
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I would rather keep the over 100,000 jobs that the big 3 provide directly to its employees in CANADA then have all those 100,000 jobs be in Egypt where they would be paid $1 an hour. If you don’t think this is true give your head a shake. The government also is protecting jobs.
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I could have predicted this before he brought his money into Canada.
Why Wind can’t get more subscribers? Because of AWS spectrum, most people want handsets likeiphones which wind doesn’t offer.Also not all Canadians live in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver.
First Wind should improve their signals in large cities like Vancouver, (Sometimes I can’t get a signal for 10 blocks inside Wind zones)
2nd expand into other cities, Victoria, Kelowna, Halifax
and 3rd ask Apple, HTC, and Samsung to make smartphones for AWS and release it at the same time as the big 3 lsoers.
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From CBC.CA: Of the 241 nations on the world Canada ranks 230 in population density. The higher the population density means the more customers you can reach per cell phone tower. Therefore Canada is the most expensive developed nation in the world for Cell Phone Providers.
On top of being the lowest density of all developed nations Canada is also the most regulated.
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Bad idea because
1. too many political red-tape
2. too high taxes
3. no money to be made
4. favouritism towards inbred locals
Canada economy sucks
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why would we go in and just increase the price so the government makes more money and we get devastated
–>Typical canadian immigration scam, stealing from foreigners
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Look at Orascom’s financial statements. Most people on this blog have no idea about how business works. They are in it to make money. Running a telecom company in Egypt or North Korea is not a market that is anything like North America. What is the average income of an Egyptian? How much does it cost to put a tower in Alexandra? It is most likely duct taped to an old Coca-Cola billboard.
Orascom’s financials are pathetic. They operate in third world countries where there are no regulations, taxes or laws for that matter. $4 ARPU will not work in North America people.
If you want to pay $4 a month, by all means move there!
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I love how he has a problem with government imposing foreign ownership rules (to avoid slimy unaccountable owners), yet he wants the government to stick their hand in to set-aside spectrum for him. The Big 3 are being held back from competing to foster these small players but most of them are simply looking to gain market share that they can sell to Deutch Telecom and other Bigger Nationals, not to build anything. If AT&T and Verizon were allowed to invest all-in (they used ot own chunks of many) then this same guy would ask for government involvement to help him against them.
How is it in Canada’s interest to ship all our jobs overseas? so we can return to beig a raw materials country with a bunch of kiosk reps (who will soon be replaced by vending machines or online purchase)?
Keep the tech Jobs Canadian and tell these foreign interest to go elsewhere if they don’t like it. Government should only give a leg up to Canadians and keep those incentives in Canada not to be sucked out to people with slimy questionable foreign dealings.
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Wow…we have here a couple of prime ministers! I would love to know where you guys get all this info! You must be friends with really importabt people…my my to have so much credible information on the carriers…oh wait! Its simply your freaking opinion and its not even verified information! Yep thats better
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Actually, the information I get is public information. Check SEDAR, Industry Canada, orascomtelecom.com, NASP, etc.
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Thoughts are simple, there is no real competition. The big three are involved in colusion IMO and everyone else is angled out with the help of the government and possibly some of whom are getting some sort of pay off, but the collusion is obvious to me.
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Sawiris is 100% right. The single biggest reason why Canada has one of the highest average cell phone rates in the world is because of the CRTC.
It prevents competition. Letting foreign investors in will stimulate competion and give Canadians more options and better pricing.
If you want Canadians not to lose their jobs, then let foreign investors in but ensure that their operations are based in Canada and employ a staff that encourages Canadian hiring.
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If we go by this model of letting foreign ownership in; the incumbents would no longer be able to take advantage of existing infrastructure or have their access to other company’s infrastructure regulated.
The existing companies have spent billions over 20 years building their network and if we want it to be fair then the new carriers will have to start from scratch just like they did.
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Another food for thought, if foreign investors like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile had an opportunity to establish themselves in Canada… just imagine how much cheaper it would be to call to and from the US (as they won’t be roaming as much to another carrier’s network).
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Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile will never come here, period.
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LOL it’s like the CRTC’s echo.
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Serious, this topic shouldn’t even need discussion. If the gov’t doesn’t set aside spectrum for the new entrants, then basically all the trouble the wireless industry went through for the past couple years was basically a waste of time. That also shows the Conservatives, afterall, isn’t really serious about bringing competitions to Canadians.
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Guys, The 700mhz spectrum auction will show the true colours of every new provider. They will need to put their money where their mouth is. After the auction, we’ll find out who’s serious enough about providing service in Canada. If the “new providers” toss money for a piece of the spectrum, that very provider will take us into the next generation of cell service in Canada. If wind doesn’t bid or decides it’s not worth spending a dime, look for them to merge. Although Mr. Sawiris said that “he will not take a bribe” AKA sell it off… That doesnt mean that he won’t consider a merger, After all, his telecomm businesses are built on mergers and takeovers. This auction prove the serious players.. And for those of you who know anything about RF, 700mhz is like prime beach real estate.. propagation bonerville.
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But Wind sucks balls. Maybe if they win the auction they won’t anymore. Doubt it though.
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How about just doing a different kind of auction. Rather than selling of slots to the highest bidder, allowing the big3 to hog it all up on the one hand; or specifically setting some spectrum aside for the ‘new guys’, one could just let everybody bid.
In the end all bids are summed up, and spectrum is given relative to how much everybody is paying. For example if Bell bids 1 billion, Rogers bids 0.9 billion, and wind bids 100 million, then bell gets 50% of the spectrum, rogers gets 40%, and wind gets 5%.
This would allow the new guys to spend much less money and still get _some_ spectrum. And the big3 will get diminishing returns when trying to push out the new guys – in the above example, even if bell doubled their bid, wind would still get 3.3% of the spectrum.
If one wanted to favor the small companies, one could make it slightly non-linear. For example if one exponentiated all bids by 2/3 (i.e. x^.66), then
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…then wind would get 10% of the spectrum in the previous example, even if they only paid 5% (bell and rogers would get 46%, 43%, respectively)
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Happy they finally realized Rogers ..power and Telus & strength now just wanted to see wind leaving the battle…yupiii
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I am all for new entrants coming to Canada. However Mr. Wind knew the rules and he did not comply. So for him to bash Canada doesn’t win him any points. Mobilicity played by the rules and we don’t hear them whining about Canadian rules. Wind is whining because they thought they would have a million customers by now. Their network is unstable. It takes a couple of years or so before it becomes stable. Honestly, I don’t see Wind lasting too long here. They will be bought out by one of the Big 3.
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I was with Telus for over 15 years at $60.00 pm
All I got was 200mins daytime with evenings & weekends.
Got Wind with unlimited data & North American call for $45.00
Even roaming in the states is just .25 min.
Can’t go wrong with that plan/pricing.
Telus is $1.25/min
Is a no brainier.
Go Wind go !!!
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yes mike a no brainer.. you pay less and get terrible customer service, dropped calls, no signal, limited phone choices, no warranty, your money goes to the owner uncle swarie who is a cry baby, you have a contract of sorts, AWS signal that is weak at best.. ahuh no brains indeed. do tell me what you do at 4am when little bobby is running a fever and your wind phone will not work.. or maybe ask the people that have needed to call 911 and found they are roaming so it does not work.. worse off what happens when your loved ones car breaks down and they are in a home zone with no signal and the roaming is blocked. Not to worry I am sure some kind passer by will offer them the use of their Bell/Telus/Rogers phone.
no brain indeed.
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Gentlemen, paytrolls and armchair cellphone users. Uncle swarie wants a deal, he wants to spend as little as possible.. oh wait .. why is he talking about this?! I thought jabroni was the boss? could it be? you have all been duped? jabroni is nothing more than uncle swaries lapdog.. also you are all aware wind was sold to another company.. this company has over 95 million subscribers. Talk about huuuge! but sadly they, the 95 million subs made about the same in profits as Rogers wireless.. the same rogers wireless that employs Canadians, that is not including telus.. which also employs Canadians and do not forget bell.. Public mobli all canadian owned and operated.. But wind has uncle swarie, jabroni and the paytrolls.
leave the auction open.. those that can will bid, those that are serious will bid.. let the cry babies cry.
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Just Activated a Wind line yesterday and its fantastic to pay only $29 for unlimited everything versus $129 for limited everything. The cheapest plan Robber$ has is $32.35 for 150 minutes “c’mon Man!” if I can’t kick the shackles off of my contract I will at least file it down as much as I can. Robber$ are a bunch of Mobbers.
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let the numbers talk, we should find out how many canadian employees each provider has.
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If we put the potential posturing aside as the wireless carriers gear up for the auction. I wonder how WIND employees feel knowing their principle investor is saying ivesting in Canada and them was a mistake. Would you not be looking to get out ASAP.
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“It was a bad idea” That’s quite the admission coming from the boss man. But it goes a long way toward explaining Wind’s half-arsed Customer Service. Their heart’s just not in it. If the boss doesn’t give a damm why should the employees?
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LOL Telus is investing billions of dollar in canada like rogers and bell (But I only have telus numbers)They have more then 20000 employee accross canada. There is outsourcing but that is mainly because one started to do it and then the other had to follow to stay competitive. Also all new entrant are mostly outsource which give them an edge. I work in this industry and a lot of people are blinded by there fals assumption and frustration that they can’t manage their usage.. Customers are becoming less and less responsible and all this complaining is only going further this way.
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Rogers…Bell….Telus…CRTC…aren’t they all the same company??? It certainly seems that way.
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Rogers has large call centres in both Burnaby & Montreal serving business and consumers, I don’t know about Bell but Cliff is right about Telus. Doesn’t matter though because most of the people WORKING in those call centres just came from another country anyway and can barely speak English.
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Maybe if the Public Folks would run wind for him his success would be greater base on the performance set by Public in the last 2-3 weeks
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Saris should close wind down and spend his valuable time and money in a less corrupt country.
He said it himself, he is able to survive in 25 other countries including super corrupt ones, and yet Canada is the worst of them all!
Lols, more great stats for Canada! Great job Canada!
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Mindo he prefers to be in corrupt countries because he can spread a little payola and get things done. a bribe here a pay off there and he gets business done. You are aware he was chased out of a few countries and now he is under investigation by his own government because of the favorable treatment he was getting.. My friend 1 bad act a crook makes. in his case there are many. He wants a deal, he is special he wants to continue to provide you all with terrible service, on a lousy network.. multiple dead zones across the city never fixed never investigated. suspect numbers. outsourcing.. clogged lines for all the issues. billing nightmares warranty issues.. they could not deploy AWS and now they want LTE network techs say they are 5 years away from making that happen.. so why is he saying all this.. exit strategy some one hand uncle swarie a tissue his crocodile tears are gonna soil his shiny suit.
WHERE is Jabroni? Out leader.. the voice, the face of Wind? has he been told to sit down and shut up? : well north of 400,000 subs and now look less than 320k the boss man speaks.
outsourced, non biding, jabronied and now crying
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I think ripping someone off, cornering them, forcing them to overpay for something you know it’s not worth that much is NOT CANADIAN ENOUGH.
Here we have it with cell phones and real state.
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50% ownership by Canadians sounds fair. The Big 3 investors need to grow out of their greed to grow every year. Afterall there is only so much room to grow in the Canadian market.
The Big 3 are “Big” in Canada only because they are so well protected by the govt. That’s why instead of going to Egypt and starting a business there they manipulate the Canadian government into creating unnecessary artificial obstacles to stifle domestic competition. Enough with this bullying of consumers.
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Protectionist practices are good. Letting all your tax dollars and pensions dissappear to an offshore company is not a clever strategy. Security and Privacy is compromised,your personal and financial details end up in ungoverned provinces and no investement is returned. I have seen countries do this and theres no benefit. Economically selling off the crown jewels is OK short term but theres no benefit to competition in the long term…Canada should stay the way it is…keep jobs and privacy onshore.
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The big 3 already have the 800 mhz frequency. There is NO need for them to even be a part of this auction. The new providers (Wind, Mobilicity, Videotron & … forgive me I forget the last one, uuum Pulic?) need this frequency to make their networks/businesses more stable. 1700 AWS has a hard time penetrating buildings. The big 3 have no problem with that. All the big 3 are trying to do is make sure the new providers go out of business so that they can set their own over priced rates once again. Please tell me that the government of Canada is not this blind. The government now has a chance to make low cost wireless in Canada a reality, lets hope they don’t sell their souls for more money which can be made by selling to the big 3. For the reasoning listed above I think the big 3 should not be allowed to buy any more spectrum for a few years. The government of Canada allowed the new providers to set up shop & run when they first entered the market, so what would be the point now of helping to put them out of business by letting the big 3 win, which we all know will happen if they are allowed to bid as they have been running in Canada for over a decade ripping us off with high priced wireless service. That said means that they have more money to bid with and there is no hope of the new providers winning at all. I repeat… the government of Canada will be putting the new providers out of business if they allow the big 3 to bid. There is more money to be made in Canada in the long run from the tax generated by the new providers alone! WAKE UP CANADA!
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Wind knew everything from day one. They wanted to make lots of money they were thinking they will get in and get million subs like other third world countries they go and get million subs but ARPU is like 3 dollers. Here in Canada its a big country with small population also with the Wind marketing strategy of pay upfront for handset wasnt good and they could come up with 15 months contract like in UK. Also want to mention that Wind managment is not good as well. they have around 15 VPs they are getting huge salries. So you can imagine how company can make profit. Well all the best Wind just note that rules are same for everyone . Get better business plan and startegy show the big local investors (Banks,VC or Financial Comapnies ) and follow the rules of paying intrest you will get fiannace. You cant make foregin black money in white money in Canada.
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When the 700Mhz auction is opened for all carriers,
I remained silent;
I am just a customer
When the Egyptian yelled not fair,
I remained silent;
I could switch to Mobilicity
When the big3 won the bids,
I remained silent;
there’s still AWS
When the new entrants bought out by the Big3,
I remained silent;
there are still mobile service for good
When the Big3 decide to rise the monthly plan,
there was no one left to speak out.
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Sadly, Sawiri is right. Canada is a very closed market where the governments (both federal and provincial) do not foster competition but instead fight it. And then they are surprised that prices are on average 25% higher than in the US and form a Senate committee to investigate. D’oh!
This is not limited to telecommunications (although it is especially bad there), but goes across many industries. Have you ever tried importing a motorbike because you couldn’t buy it here? A French car? A few bottles of good wine? Have you ever experienced how long a few warranty replacement screw of a few dollars value sent from the US are held up in customs? The ridiculous limits of what you can bring in from a trip abroad? Have you tried to shop around for cheaper electricity? The selection in so many goods, be it mobile phones or washing machines, is very small in Canada – because the barriers to enter the market are HUGE. And the governments want to keep it that way, with support from the unions (who, traditionally, are afraid of change).
A lot of business practices would be outright illegal in the EU – this includes many clauses in telecommunications contracts, but also general business practices such as producers of goods restricting shops on how they are allowed to sell these products (for example: not allowed to sell online) or creating regional monopolies for their products (ever tried to shop around for a certain type of bicycles at different shops in your town or city?). Don’t get me going about milk or gas price regulation.
This might appear to save jobs – but on the large scale it costs jobs. It makes all of us a little poorer and a few people very rich. It sucks.
Sawiri is right and it is time Canadians wake up. We need more competition, everywhere.
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[...] upon his vision by investing a half-billion dollars in a Canadian mobile telecom startup known as Wind Mobile. (If only Mr. Sawiris had performed the due diligence of seeking out anagrams within that brand, he [...]
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Hidden due to low comment rating!!! What kind of forum is this. Screw yourselves! And move to China! There, You can do what you’re told or become free labor.
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