Quebecor has lodged a complaint with the Competition Bureau concerning an agreement between Loblaw and wireless carriers Bell and Rogers, through their joint venture Glentel, granting them exclusive selling rights at The Mobile Shop.
This deal means Quebecor’s Freedom Mobile would be excluded from 180 Loblaw-owned grocery stores, potentially increasing the telecom oligopoly’s control to 62.5% of all third-party retailers in the Canadian wireless industry, said the Quebec-based telecom on Wednesday.
Quebecor believes the Competition Bureau will scrutinize the grocery giant’s practices and the joint venture model exemplified by Glentel, which, according to Quebecor, exacerbates market concentration to the detriment of Canadian consumers.
“The agreement between Loblaw and Glentel cloaks yet another attempt by the dominant players in the telecommunications market to thwart competition,” said Pierre Karl Péladeau, President and CEO of Quebecor, in a statement.
“To our knowledge, there is no other oligopoly where two of the three main players are allowed to work hand in hand to exclude competitors from such an important retail channel. This new squeeze by Loblaw, a company currently under investigation by the Competition Bureau for anti-competitive tactics in the grocery industry, is a major cause for concern.”
Quebecor estimates that in 2023, over 80% of Canadian wireless product sales occurred in-store.
Bell, Rogers, and Telus dominate the market, primarily through third-party retailers operating under generic names like tbooth wireless, Wirelesswave, and Wow! Mobile Boutique, which can give customers a misleading sense of neutrality, explained Quebecor.
Currently, 49.5% of these retailers are controlled by at least one member of the ‘Big 3’ telecoms, says Quebecor. If Glentel gains control of 180 The Mobile Shop outlets, this percentage will increase to 62.5%, further entrenching the oligopoly’s hold on wireless product and service retail sales.
“The expansion of controlled retail will deprive the other players of a fair and equitable opportunity to make a dent in the controlling market share of the Big 3,” Péladeau continued to say. “These concerns were brought to the attention of Loblaw senior management but were brushed aside. They are pursuing their own financial interests at the expense of Canadian consumers.”
Quebecor is urging action to maintain a fair competitive environment in both the telecommunications and grocery sectors, saying it’s “in the best interests of Canadians.”
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It’s kind of no different than all the many selections you have for beer at the Liquor store… but the majority is owned by Molson under a different brand.
If Videotron weren’t so restricted by subscription areas, they could sell new subscriptions via eSIM and an app, similar to how Public Mobile does it.
Videotron also currently has three brands selling basically the same thing(yeah, they’re a little different for now but soon they’ll be pretty much the same) when you include Fizz and Freedom.