By Samer Bishay
IT’S NO SURPRISE CANADIANS are paying some of the highest wireless prices – especially for data – in the world.
In another international audit of prices last fall, by Rewheel Research, it confirmed what Canadians already know: we pay far too much. In public surveys released by Canada’s telecom regulator earlier this month, Canadians said overwhelmingly they feel cell service in Canada is more expensive than abroad.
Affordability is the main reason the federal government ordered the CRTC to move up its review of the wireless market and start a critical public hearing February 18, a year earlier than planned. Ottawa also asked the CRTC to reconsider its decision that effectively shut down one of my companies that had the audacity to offer Canadians affordable wireless service for as low as $19 a month.
Sugar Mobile launched in 2016 as a Wi-Fi-first service that could use some cellular network connections when needed. A year later Rogers, in cahoots with Bell and Telus, convinced the CRTC that our company was bad for Canada.
Bad for the wireless oligopolists, sure. But how bad could we be for price-gouged Canadians?
A nasty battle ensued. And all about an acronym – MVNO, which stands for Mobile Virtual Network Operator.
The Big Three went into attack mode immediately. Though common in the U.S. and elsewhere, MVNOs, or resellers of wireless telecommunications services like talk, text and data, are not mandated in Canada. The CRTC does not force Bell, Telus and Rogers to open their networks to resellers at a reasonable rate.
In fact, one of the biggest and best MVNOs in the U.S. is Toronto-based Ting (Cartt.ca did a recent feature on another one, textnow). Innovators like these cannot even operate in their backyard because the Big Three won’t let them on their networks at a fair price.
Until Sugar Mobile began, everyone was talking about MVNOs in the Canadian industry, but no one did anything. We decided to take some advice from Dolly Parton who said, “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”
“Technology and innovation are always ahead of regulations and we were playing by the rules. There was no backdoor.”
So when we did, the Big Three accused Sugar Mobile of being scallywags and finding a “backdoor” to resell Rogers network without permission. Poppycock.
One of our affiliated companies, Ice Wireless, is a facilities-based mobile network operator restricted to Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Northern Quebec. It was through a roaming agreement between Ice Wireless and Rogers that Sugar Mobile customers could get on the Rogers network temporarily after leaving a Wi-Fi zone.
There was nothing in the CRTC regulations that prevented us from launching the Sugar Mobile service to offer wireless price relief using Wi-Fi predominantly. Technology and innovation are always ahead of regulations and we were playing by the rules. There was no backdoor.
Indeed, the fact it took the CRTC a year – and lots of lobbying by the Big Three – to slap us down is proof we were playing by existing rules. Had it been illegal they would have pulled the plug immediately instead of calling for regulatory submissions and arguments. But the Big Three had the rules changed.
Not only that, but Sugar Mobile users were on Wi-Fi 90% of the time, and on the Rogers cellular network only 10% of the time. As I said, Sugar Mobile is a Wi-Fi-first service.
And we were paying Rogers 10 times more than Rogers was charging some of its customers. The mandated roaming rates then were $25 per gigabit (they’re now $13 per gig) and Rogers was offering some of its customers one gig for only $2.50. But Rogers – and its “nudge-nudge, wink-wink competitors” Bell and Telus – did not want any sort of competition, even if our target customers were economically-disadvantaged Canadians.
Why were we such a threat to Rogers and its Putinesque playmates Bell and Telus?
We were trying to help bridge the digital divide.
I’m glad the federal government also wants to bring affordability to the wireless market. To bring real, sustainable competition to Canada’s wireless market won’t be easy. But it’s essential. Letting Sugar Mobile operate is a start. So is letting Ting, textnow and others join the fray.
Samer Bishay (pictured) is the founder and CEO of Iristel Inc., which owns Ice Wireless and Sugar Mobile.
