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It’s a plan Xplornet hopes will appeal to consumers in a country where people often gripe about relatively high data prices, low data allotments and the resulting overage fees, which netted industry players more than $1 billion in revenue in 2016, according to the CRTC.

… what we want to do is be the fair mobile carrier Xplornet's Sebastien Bouchard

But it has a long way to go to build a network that will compete with the incumbents that dominate the Manitoba market, serving about 98 per cent of its 900,000 wireless subscriptions.

Xplore’s entrance into Manitoba was a result of BCE Inc.’s $3.9-billion purchase of Manitoba Telecom Services. Regulators approved the deal on the condition that Bell divest 24,700 subscribers representing a typical group of customers, six stores and 40 MHz of spectrum to Xplornet. They also granted Xplornet special access to Bell’s networks, towers and supply chains for a few years. (Bell also had to sell one third of its new subscribers to Telus Corp.)

Regulators worried that consolidation would lead to higher wireless prices in a province that enjoyed some of the lowest rates in the country. The Competition Bureau credited the presence of a strong regional competitor, MTS, for Manitoba’s lower prices. This summer, Bell raised rates by about $5 per month for new customers and existing customers who upgrade their plans. It also stopped offering unlimited plans to new customers.

Still, Xplore was a surprise choice for a fourth player since it had never offered mobile wireless services before. Even with the leg up, Xplore plans to invest $100 million in Manitoba to get its network running. Xplore has built roughly 25 per cent of that network so far, Bouchard said, but customers will roam on its competitor’s network until the build is complete. He insisted there will be no difference in coverage.