TORONTO – In a move that is sure to make the politicos in Ottawa take notice, Wind Mobile, Public Mobile and Mobilicity today jointly announced their withdrawal from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), saying the association is biased in favour of its rivals and does not represent their interests.
The group claims the CWTA has become the “voice of big three telcos” – referring to Rogers, Bell and Telus – at the “expense of consumers and new entrant mobile service providers” and does not represent the Canadian mobile wireless sector.
“When we were first approached by the CWTA, we were promised clear and fair representation on issues of true industry alignment,” said Simon Lockie, chief regulatory officer for Wind Mobile, in the announcement. “But despite making our objections and concerns abundantly clear on numerous occasions, the CWTA has repeatedly failed to honour this promise, leaving us no alternative but to withdraw.”
“It has been evident for quite some time that, rather than being a true industry association which represents the views of all players regardless of size, the CWTA has instead largely been an advocate for Rogers, Telus and Bell, and often directly contrary to the interests of new entrant wireless carriers,” said Bob Boron, general counsel and senior vice-president for Public Mobile.
Gary Wong, director of legal affairs for Mobilicity, says the association’s biases towards the larger carrier companies is unacceptable. “We have spent the better part of three years repeatedly voicing our opposition to the CWTA on a wide range of matters to the point of issuing a press release in January 2011 that publically expressed our dissent on the CWTA’s position on wireless consumer protection.”
In a separate statement responding to the resignations, the CWTA said that while disagreements among members on certain issues may exist, “CWTA rejects the accusation that the association represents the interests of only certain members. CWTA has always and will continue to work on behalf of all of its members.”
“The many contributions of Wind, Mobilicity and Public Mobile will certainly be missed, and CWTA would welcome their return to the association in the future,” the CWTA said.
