CRTC allows small wireless carriers to use big networks | Hacker News Reader

CRTC allows small wireless carriers to use big networks

canada.ca

67 pointsbarbazoo36 comments

They only allowed regional carriers with existing spectrum to use others networks. It doesn't allow any other company to use the large carriers networks which limits the ability to start a MVNO carrier as you need existing spectrum licenses in order to piggyback on others networks.

Yes, exactly. This ruling doesn't change much. All it provides is that regional carriers will now be able to offer services outside of their service area with mandated roaming wholesale tariffs instead of private commercial agreements. This might allow for players like Freedom or Videotron to start offering services in more areas, perhaps leading to a decrease in prices where only the Big 3 were previously available, but I do not expect any crazy disruption to retail pricing, as the numbers of players competing in the market will still be limited.

There won't be a Mint Mobile or a Google Fi in Canada for a long time, unless these players decide to partner with a Canadian regional carrier. And even then, I don't know if this would be legally possible, as majority foreign ownership of telecommunication providers is not allowed in Canada. Once again, the Canadian telcos have managed to keep their oligopoly untouched.

CFO of Mint here.

I’ve been tracking this, of course, and just glad to hear Mint mentioned :)

Too bad Rogers bought Freedom, Canadians are back to the three-player-cartel.

Just like T-Mobile buying Sprint. Ugh.

They're lubing up the public so they can greenlight the Rogers-Shaw/Freedom merger

This was my first thought as well.

The small carriers piggybacked on big networks are just a facade for the big networks. If the are not owned by those networks, they hope to be acquired.

They just provide different branding at a bit of a discount, like Toyota vs Lexus kind of thing.

Things are better than they used to be. E.g. one half decent alternative in Canada is Public Mobile. E.g. my cell phone plan has unlimited Canada-wide calling and texting. If I pre-pay $25 for a month on auto top-up, I get 1.5 G of data, which is fine for my use. I don't go out to sit somewhere out of Wi-Fi range to stream videos. Just from a battery use POV, that would be a nonstarter, even with unlimited data.

Though that pricing may seem laughable to people in some parts of the world, the fact is that it costs $2 less than what I paid for a land-line in 1987 to operate a BBS.

In absolute dollars, not adjusted for inflation!!!

On that land-line, calling just across town (e.g. Surrey to North Vancouver or vice versa) incurred long-distance charges.

Wow, was that ever a rip-off. Let's do the inflation using inflationtool.com.

Evidently, CAD $27 in 1987 is like $56 in 2021. $56 a month, with unlimited calling only to immediately neighboring municipalities. (Data? What's that: 1200 baud modem or something).

Wow, when did the CRTC actually become useful? </sarcasm>

That's a pretty ignorant comment. CRTC has done a lot to protect content in Canada. A lot of which happens behind the scenes.

Meh, CRTC has a lot more good to do before we can forgive them for enabling the telecoms to keep robing Canadians, with most expensive prices per gigabyte in the whole world.

I wonder if geography or population density matters in these conversations. It costs 6.5x more to bring a cell tower to your neighborhood than it does in the US - but you will continue to compare Uganda or other countries that are postage stamps in terms of size compared to Canada - and act as if that’s logical.

Most expensive prices per gigabyte in the developed world. Small caveat, the situation is still terrible, but being correct is important.

If paying high cellular, internet & home prices is a sign of “developed” world. Yes

We pay less than Uganda, more than all of Europe. That's what's important here. Complaining correctly.

In front of the scenes: Canadians pay the highest cellular bills & internet bills.

Also in front of the scenes: the largest country with the smallest population. In the world. Giving a Canadian cell access costs 6.5x more than it does to provide ab American the same service. Why would the prices be even close?

CRTC has done a lot to protect telcos interests, Canadian people pays the big price.

What are some examples that don't favour entrenched interests (Rogers / Bell / Telus ) looking to legislate away competition, or subsidise politically approved "artists" while making it harder for us to access content we actually want to see?

They've enabled third party internet access's for wired internet [0]. Teksavvy wouldn't exist without the CTRC.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Party_ISP_Access

Some would argue Teksavvy exists despite the CRTC.

Armchair opinions will be armchair opinions.

Wow - going from posting personal insults to going full hypocrite.

You've got quite the range!

They’ve also done a lot to limit competition, which has led to higher prices.

Hate to sound cynical but this is typical Canadian. Lovely headline but ultimately really not much benefit to the people.

Hopefully this will bring in actual competition and lower prices.

Virtual carriers are fake competition. It's like there are 1000 energy "providers" but the fundamentals never seem to change much.

Some places have it now. I'm in the The Maritimes and here ISP Eastlink also has mobile phones. I went from $90/month Bell to $30/month Eastlink mobile (with $15 bundle, otherwise $45)

The are merging with Rodgers.. expect a price hike in your future.

Jokes. And then they will regulate prices, stop adding taxes to the internet and force the big carriers to split. And then pigs fly!

Hahaha

(This looks like a throwaway comment but as a Canadian, this is the correct reaction)

In my head CRTC will always mean Cathode Ray Tube Controller.

Are you one of those TV-head robots?

OK what's Ryan Reynolds been up to?

I’m glad the crtc only regulates telecoms. Otherwise I’d have to pay for the sunlight landing on my property and the water too.

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