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MONTREAL – Canada’s wireless carriers would have to potentially cut jobs to compete with Verizon if the U.S. telecom giant enters the marketplace under “loopholes” that would give it preferred treatment, the head of Bell Canada said Thursday.

Bell has joined major telecom companies Rogers and Telus in calling for Ottawa to change its policy on foreign ownership of small Canadian wireless companies.

The three Canadian rivals say they have been put at an unfair disadvantage that allows foreign carriers like Verizon to buy small Canadian wireless carriers while denying them the same opportunity.

“They have to come in and compete with us head to head,” Cope said in an interview from Toronto.

“From my perspective, it will ultimately cost jobs in Canada because my belief is when someone enters a market through a subsidized position, they have a competitive advantage.”

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Bell’s chief executive said the values of Bell, Rogers and Telus has taken a $15-billion cumulative on the capital markets since news broke that Verizon could be interested in setting up its cellphone business in Canada.

Verizon, which has more than 100 million wireless customers, has said it’s still eyeing the possibility. There have been reports that Verizon is planning to buy new carrier Wind Mobile while also is in talks with financially struggling Mobilicity — two of the new generation of wireless carriers competing with Rogers, Telus and Bell (TSX:BCE).

In June, Ottawa blocked major carrier Telus (TSX:T) from buying Mobilicity and made it clear it wants four wireless competitors in every region.

Telecom analyst Iain Grant said Rogers, Bell and Telus are reacting with “fear.”

“Anything that makes the three bullies a little bit afraid is something that Canadians should celebrate,” said Grant, managing director of the SeaBoard Group.

He said wireless prices will come down for consumers if there is more competition.

“This isn’t really a Canadian nationalism thing. This is very much a consumer wallet thing.”

The CEOs of both Telus and Rogers have also called for a level playing field.

“We can’t have a U.S. foreign incumbent be allowed to buy new entrants at depressed pricing by blocking the ability of incumbent Canadian players to do the same,” Rogers chief executive Nadir Mohamed said this week.

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Foreign ownership restrictions have been removed for small wireless companies with less than a 10 per cent of the market, which opens the door for Verizon and other foreign companies to enter Canada. However, big carriers still can’t be more than one-third foreign owned.

“We do not believe a U.S. company that is four times the size of Canada’s entire wireless industry combined requires special help from Canadians. It’s profoundly unfair to all Canadians, and Ottawa needs to close the loopholes,” Cope said in an open letter to Canadians on Thursday.

Bell, Telus and Rogers (TSX:RCI.B) have about 25 million customers between them.

Cope said Verizon wouldn’t build out its own network across Canada to reach rural communities.

“Instead, they would concentrate on a few big urban centres, forcing Canadian carriers to do the same, while potentially cutting jobs and slashing costs in order to compete,” he said in the letter.

Cope doesn’t like what he calls “loopholes” the federal government has in its telecom policy that would give advantages to Verizon. He said if a small Canadian wireless company seeks a buyer, Canadian carriers should be allowed to bid, just as an American company can.

He also said U.S operators entering Canada should have to build out their networks and not just ride on networks built by small companies they’ve acquired and on network sharing agreements with Bell, Telus and Rogers.

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Also, Cope said Canada’s wireless carriers should be able to bid for the same amount of spectrum — radio waves over which cellphone networks carry voice calls and data — that Verizon will be able to bid on as a new player in Canada.

Analysts have noted that current rules on the sale or transfer of radio waves don’t allow Bell, Rogers or Telus to bid on and win more than one block of spectrum, but this wouldn’t apply to new entrants such as Verizon.

The federal government repeated its message on Thursday that it wants increased competition.

“Our government’s view has been clear. We want effective competition across Canada,” said Sebastien Gariepy, a spokesman for Industry Minister James Moore.

“Competition that will strengthen Canadian industry and serve consumers. Greater competition means better prices for Canadian consumers.”