Canadian Cellphone Bills Could Be On The Rise Without Competition From Verizon

Over the past couple of weeks there have been many rumours that Verizon may expand into Canada. An official statement from the U.S. carrier said that there are no plans for Verizon to enter the Canadian market. Several analysts say that the decision may mean Canadians could soon end up paying more on their cellphone bills.

Just the thought of Verizon’s entry had Canada’s big three carriers offering new data sharing plans that were previously unavailable to consumers.

On Tuesday Iain Grant, a telecom analyst, said

“If nothing else, even the spectre of Verizon coming here was enough to change pricing in the Canadian market. Without Verizon, will prices creep up? I think, sadly, the answer is probably yes.”

Rogers, Bell and Telus shares surged on the news that Verizon confirmed that a Canadian entry was “off the table at this point.”

Verizon said on Monday that it was no longer interested in competing in the Canadian wireless market after announcing it would pay US$130 billion for a 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless owned by British cellphone carrier Vodafone.

Will Verizon ever reconsider entering the Canadian market?



 
[via o.canada.com]

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