Rogers has announced the completion of its “historic merger” with Shaw bringing together two of Canada’s most “iconic” companies to create one national cable, media, and wireless company. The quick completion of the deal comes after Canada approved the merger on Friday. Now that was a fast turnaround.
The merger, according to both companies, unlocks billions in investment to “bring significant benefits to Canada and Canadians.” Rogers and Shaw boasted they have together invested over $40 billion over the past 10 years building their world-class networks.
“We’re proud to bring together these two iconic companies to deliver more value, more connectivity, and more innovation for Canadians,” said Tony Staffieri, President and CEO of Rogers, who’s expected to earn $8 million in bonuses for completing the transaction.
The Shaw family has become one of the largest shareholders of Rogers, with Brad Shaw and Trevor English designated for nomination to the Rogers Board of Directors.
“We plan to bring together our products and services for Canadians in a way we never have before,” added Staffieri. “This is a business of scale, and we can now deliver even more value for consumers and businesses on Canada’s largest and best national network.”
Rogers and Shaw say they can now offer internet, television, phone, smart home monitoring, wireless services, credit cards, sports and media content and more to Canadians.
Western Canada over the next five years will see $1 billion invested to connect rural, remote, and Indigenous communities and unserved remote highways in the four Western provinces.
Another $2.5 billion will be invested to expand and improve 5G in over 300 communities in Western Canada, and $3 billion more for broadband to provide faster speeds to 4.7 million homes from Northern Ontario through to British Columbia.
Rogers has also created a new website detailing its Shaw acquisition, complete with a dramatic, feel good video showcasing the merger, with the tagline: Rogers together with Shaw.
We’re excited to officially welcome @ShawInfo to the Rogers team!
Rogers and Shaw are coming together to bring you more 5G wireless coverage, faster fibre-powered internet and continued support for local communities.
Learn more at https://t.co/xBixcuh28B pic.twitter.com/lQ0GvnQ7HP
— Rogers (@Rogers) April 3, 2023
“We’re thrilled to come together as one company to build on a shared legacy of investment, innovation, and entrepreneurship,” said Edward Rogers, Chairman of Rogers. “As a proud Canadian company, we’re committed to investing for Canada and Canadians for decades to come.”
“By investing in and providing Canadians with access to fast, next-generation networks, my family and the employees of the new combined company are excited to continue building on Shaw’s legacy while helping usher in a new wave of competition and innovation,” said Brad Shaw, former Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Shaw.
Rogers and Shaw point out that the merger will also connect more low-income Canadians and make 5G services more affordable, plus reduce the price of Rogers 5G wireless data by 30% over the next three years (keep an eye on that!). They plan to also invest $75 million annually to support local charities reaching over 50,000 youth across Canada.
The closing of the deal also meant Quebecor has completed its acquisition of Freedom Mobile from Shaw today, as part of the merger process to appease competition regulators. Critics of the Rogers-Shaw merger say the consolidation of telecoms will see higher prices and less competition, the opposite of what these companies are touting.
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Why, why will they magically come down now that they’ve spent a ton of money and will need to spend a ton more integrating everything?
It’s almost like they’d been holding Canadians hostage via high prices to bully Gov’t into approving the deal.
They won’t come down, Canadians, with the help of the federal liberals will continue to be gouged by the big three.
Oh, sure. Prices will come down but we’ll see fees/extra charges etc.
Of course other companies will immediately follow. Just cut the amount of money the CEO’s make by 80% so our prices can come down likewise. Oh wait, how dare we do that.
Don’t be so sure and prices are prices, to me, the price is the balance owing. I don’t care how it’s split up.
I guarantee the prices will definitely go down, But not how you think it will.
The minimum price plan will still be around $95-$110, but the data bucket will increase by 30%. The new plan will be $95/150GB.
How does that equate prices going down? You just showed prices going up, regardless of “data bucket” you’re showing prices going up.
$s/Gb
Who’s looking for all those gigs? It’s a ripoff, nobody is going to use 150gig on a phone. Your bill balance will go up and that’s all that matters, I’m on my phone all day, and have never cracked 20gig.
I’m not arguing who needs that much I certainly don’t either. But that’s exactly how the “price” will come down. It could just be in terms of $/Gb nothing else.
The fact of the matter is the price won’t go down at all using the $95/150 logic, if you were paying for example $50 for 20gig before, and are now paying $95 for 150gig, and you’re only using 20gig of the 150gig, you’re paying another $45 per month more. They know you nor I nor 99.9% of the people won’t use that 150gig and are simply head faking people with gigs they won’t use. It’s a complete ripoff.
Or they can prove me wrong by using the $95/150 as the benchmark and scale down for people who only want 20 gig. Which means, doing the math, I’d be paying about $32 for 20 gig, but of course they won’t do that as the gigs don’t matter to them.
It doesn’t matter how many companies Rogers buy, they have a license to print money, they have a government that allows them to violate antitrust laws and they’ll continue to gouge Canadians. Unlike with cable tv, we don’t have a choice. We have to go with one of the big 3 and they’re openly colluding, we see it every time they put ads up.
I’m baffled on how the monopoly has been able to sustain itself perpetually. Our government lacks either the clout or the willingness to open the borders to competition choosing to protect the corporations.
Not really unlike the dairy overlords who also hold sway over the government keeping American dairy out.
I’m wondering if we can eventually stop having to pay for two separate Internet plans, for those of us with home Internet with Shaw and cellular data with Rogers.