OTTAWA – Telus has filed a complaint with Industry Canada asking for mandated roaming on the wireless networks in Manitoba owned by MTS Allstream after what Telus says has been years of negotiations that never went anywhere.
“Telus has been unable to negotiate reasonable terms for roaming since 2001 and as a result Telus customers in Manitoba, particularly in the 204 area code (Winnipeg) are unable to obtain data roaming in their home Province,” reads the company’s application.
“Additionally all customers of Telus are limited to varying degrees in terms of roaming on the MTS network. This asymmetry is contrary to government policy and anti-consumer.”
Telus is considered a non-dominant provider in Manitoba, where MTS is an incumbent carrier with 59% market share. However, it is considered a new entrant nationally and not required to offer roaming to others based on Industry Canada’s interpretation of the roaming policy.
That interpretation means that Manitobans can’t benefit from the competition the rest of the country is seeing in wireless.
“It has become clear that the Manitoba market is not fully competitive and that MTS is using the market power it has in that Province to prevent competition,” reads the Telus application.
“Telus is seeking direction from the Department to require MTS to provide roaming… on the same basis as it provides services to its own customers in Manitoba and to thereby enter into binding commercial arbitration with Telus subject to the same conditions and procedures that apply for commercial arbitration under the Department’s policies.”
Plus, MTS has recently entered into a joint venture with Rogers Wireless to build-out an HSPA network in the province. This deal, combined with the past intransigence of MTS to negotiate, “will prevent Telus from effectively competing locally within Manitoba beyond the City of Winnipeg for the foreseeable future,” says the Telus submission.
“We note that, in addition to the two incumbent cellular carriers within Manitoba (who have a combined 87% market share) every other public mobile provider, including Telus’ national competitor Bell Mobility Inc., can now benefit from access to mandated digital roaming within Manitoba.”
Telus added in the submission it is not asking Industry Canada to set a rate, but just to mandate access in the same way other non-dominant wireless carriers have been granted access to roaming on incumbents’ nets.
The ministry and MTS have yet to respond as the filing was only made Tuesday.
– Greg O’Brien
