Somebody took away Prime Minister Harper’s big stick. Verizon has declined the opportunity to come up here and play in the Bell-Rogers-Telus sandbox. Do the Canadian telecom trio look pleased? Yes they do. Did they scare off Verizon? Not really. You do know who is going to get screwed now, do you not? Okay consumers: just open your wallets and assume the position.
Face it. Somebody has to pay for the millions of dollars in advertising that was never necessary in the first place. Bell, Rogers and Telus wasted all that money and they want it back from the consumer. You only thought you were paying too much for cell phones and all those cute whistles and bells that come with them? Just you wait.
Have you ever thought how cheap it would be to make a cellular telephone that was nothing other than a voice-communication device? Or a nice little tiny camera that would allow you to record people doing stupid things and then transmit the video to others? What about a little hand-held computer or television? And how about having something just for texting? Texting should be a junior cell phone device that allows for even adult-size fingers to send little messages to other people who cannot spell.
But no, you only think that you need a device that can do all those tricks. And that is why they want three year contracts so that they can squeeze every nickel out of you for using the device. Do you know there are Canadians who have never taken a picture with their cell phone and would not know how if the opportunity came along? It is you people who want your cell phone to do everything that are driving up the prices. The people building those complex devices are usually earning less than a dollar an hour. Guess who the thieves are who make all the bucks on them?
Even the funny farm people at the Fraser Institute have come out in favour of a more competitive market without the government kissing up to companies such as Verizon. The Institute wants to end any restrictions on foreign ownership rather than give preferential treatment to one large foreign-owned company. True to its origins, the Institute says a more competitive market should be the government objective. It is a $19 billion market in Canada and you would expect there should be some room for more innovation, competition and much lower prices.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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