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Shares of Canada’s big three wireless providers were trading sharply down Wednesday following reports that U.S. giant Verizon Communications Inc. has made an offer to buy Wind Mobile.

Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. both saw their stock drop around 9% within the first 15 minutes of the trading day while BCE Inc.’s shares were down about 5%.

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By 12:10 p.m., Rogers shares were down about 8.8%, Telus had dropped 7.9% and BCE shares had lost 4.3%.

Telecom analysts said Verizon’s entry into Canada would pose a definite challenge to the incumbent wireless providers.

Greg MacDonald, head of research at Macquarie Capital Markets Canada, said if Verizon acquires one of the country’s new entrant carriers and bids for spectrum in an upcoming auction, the big three could stand to lose up to 1.5 million subscribers in the next five years.

The carriers could also lose out on roaming revenue and the cost of spectrum, the radio airwaves used to build wireless networks, could escalate.