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Back in March 2021, Rogers Communications agreed to buy rival Shaw Communications for around C$21 billion, saying the tie-up would allow for increased investment in 5G rollout and create around 3,000 jobs.
However, as was to be expected from a merger of this nature, which would reduce the Canadian mobile market to just three national players, the deal quickly came under intense regulatory scrutiny. For over a year now, the companies have been negotiating with regulators to close the deal/
With Rogers already the mobile market leader in Canada, much of the regulatory discussion centred around the future of Shaw’s mobile unit, Freedom Mobile, the acquisition of which would make Rogers’ market dominance unassailable.
As such, regulators eventually ruled that Shaw must divest of the unit to facilitate the merger, with the operators ultimately agreeing to sell the business to Montreal-based wireless operator Vidéotron in August last year. Conditions were attached to the sale to ensure that Vidéotron would use Freedom Mobile’s spectrum and infrastructure to become Canada’s fourth national mobile operator, with Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, seeking to ensure that the company was “in it for the long run”.
But despite assuaging some regulatory concerns, Canada’s Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell still moved to block the deal in May last year, saying the deal would be bad for competition and drive-up prices for customers. He would also later argue that Freedom Mobile was a more effective market competitor under Shaw’s ownership than it would be under that of Vidéotron.
Now, however, the government’s Competition Tribunal has rejected this plea, saying it does not believe the deal will have the negative impacts Boswell describes.
“It bears underscoring that there will continue to be four strong competitors in the wireless markets in Alberta and British Columbia, namely, Bell, Telus, Rogers and Videotron, just as there is today. Videotron’s entry into those markets will likely ensure that competition and innovation remain robust,” said the Tribunal in its ruling.
Boswell said he was disappointed by the decision and would appeal the decision. As such, a Federal Court has issued an emergency stay temporarily suspending the Competition Tribunal’s dismissal of the case until the application for an injunction can be heard.
Nonetheless, this decision leaves very few roadblocks left for the merger. Champagne is expected to formally approve the transfer of Freedom Mobile’s spectrum to Vidéotron later this month, with the Rogers–Shaw merger itself likely to follow in short order if the Competition Commission’s appeal is rejected.
Want to learn all of the latest news from the American telecoms market? Join the experts in discussion at this year’s live Connected America conference in Dallas, Texas
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Connected Britain Keynotes: CXO Spotlight
The new year is upon us again, which means that it is time to dig the crystal ball out of the closet again and make a few predictions. The pandemic isn’t exactly gone, but it’s definitely in the rear view mirror for most everyone. So what do our headlights show in the distance now? If history is considered, I shouldn’t really try to guess. But who asked history? … [visit site to read more]
The wireless side of things tends to dominate AT&T’s world these days, so it is always interesting to see them make a move in the world of last mile fiber. They have partnered up with BlackRock Alternatives to launch a new joint venture targeting fiber reach outside their traditional 21-state incumbent territory. … [visit site to read more]
True Online and ZTE Corporation have launched the first 50G PON prototype in Thailand, intended to upgrade the country’s fixed-network broadband infrastructure.
As a next-generation PON access technology, 50G PON supports a wide range of scenarios and applications. In addition to providing ultra-broadband access for families, 50G PON supports innovative services such as 5G, Cloud VR, Telehealth, and industrial intelligent manufacturing for high bandwidth, low latency and jitter, and clock synchronization requirements. These characteristics are expected to support industrial development and spread the dividends of digital economy throughout the country.
Speaking at the launch, Dylan Jin, Account Director of ZTE Thailand, said that gigabit home broadband services are currently widely used in Thailand, and the basic fixed network is evolving from G PON to 10G PON. Based on True Online’s network bandwidth capabilities, 50G PON services will expand fiber networks and increase operational efficiency to enable the launch of further innovative devices, products and service to meet growing consumer demand.
The 50G PON prototype was tested at the launch event and, based on the verification of key performance, the ultra-wide transmission rates of downlink 43.90Gbps and uplink 23.30Gbps were achieved. Compared with 10G PON, the key performance parameters have been greatly improved, and can support the scenarios of future 10Gbps access, meeting the network transmission requirements of digital transformation in the industry.
As Thailand’s largest fixed-network broadband operator, True Online has been committed to researching new technologies to improve the quality of Thai people’s life. True and ZTE will continue their research on technological evolution, home interconnection, and industrial applications, which will continue to improve the life experience of Thai people through technological innovation in the future, and will also consolidate the infrastructure base of Thailand’s digital economy.
Okay, about those predictions I made last year… Each December I like to make a few predictions about the year ahead. But what is a prediction without a healthy dose of reality to cut it down to size? We don’t check such things often enough, we just tend to make more. I’ll get to that part soon enough, but first: how did I do last year? … [visit site to read more]
Happy Holidays to all, time to escape early if you haven’t already folks! Here’s some quick catchup first of a few items beforehand: … [visit site to read more]
In the final Keynote session of Day 1 at Connected Britain, panellists set out to answer a fundamental question: how do we make a positive, meaningful impact to our customers lives?
CEO UK&I of Nokia, Phil Siveter, set the stage with a presentation, highlighting the difficult economic landscape facing UK customers right now, as well as how the telecoms industry can play a starring role in alleviating these pressures and improving lives.
Next, he was joined on stage by speakers from BAI Communications, Fibrus, CityFibre, and STL, to discuss the unique challenges being faced across each section of the telecoms industry and how they can collaborate to deliver positive outcomes for their customers.
You can view the full keynote session from the link below.
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Presentation: Assumptions, Streaming and Positive Outcomes
Phil Siveter, CEO UK&I of Nokia
Panel
Missed out on the previous Connected Britain Keynote sessions? Catch up with the discussions here and here
Join us for more in-depth discussion about the UK telecoms industry at Connected Britain’s sister conference, Connected North, in Manchester next year
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
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Multinational information technology services and consulting company Cognizant has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Garuda Aerospace, an Indian drone start-up, to power its drones with advanced digital tools.
According to the Times of India, Cognizant says this will bring innovative solutions at scale for enterprises aiming to achieve greater agility, productivity and overall outcomes.
The two companies aim to bring a wide range of end-to-end drone-based management and monitoring offerings for businesses across a number of sectors, including agriculture, warehouse management, and energy and utilities.
This collaboration will also offer Cognizant associates across such company service lines as analytics and IoT the opportunity to work on purpose-driven drone projects.
Garuda Aerospace is focused on developing low-cost drone solutions to optimize industries through accurate data. It describes itself as a drone-as-a-software aggregator that designs impeccable drones for myriad human and industrial needs.
Indian press reports suggest that Garuda Aerospace boasts a fleet of 400 drones and a well-trained team of over 500 pilots in 26 cities across the country.
It’s also a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme beneficiary. We reported in April that a number of companies involved in manufacturing drones and drone components had been selected as initial beneficiaries of the PLI scheme to boost drone manufacturing in India. The list, expanded in July, included 23 beneficiaries, one of which was Garuda Aerospace.
This year has seen growing activity in the drone sector. For example, in March we reported that Asteria Aerospace, an India-based drone manufacturer and solution provider and a subsidiary of Jio Platforms Ltd, had launched an end-to-end drone operations platform.
