Canada: Watchdog told to protect small players in telco roaming flap

Competition regulators in Canada are being urged to keep an eye on the smaller wireless competitors as they face high roaming fees from larger rivals, say reports.

The Competition Bureau has reportedly advised the nation’s Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to review wireless giants and their practice of charging high fees to smaller competitors struggling to get a hold of the market. The CRTC is currently conducting a market review over the wholesale wireless industry.

Reports say the Bureau issued a statement that told the CERTC “new entrants are likely limited in their ability to bring attractive product offerings to market, resulting in reduced product choice, higher prices for consumers and/or less innovation in Canadian mobile wireless markets,” all due to wireless leaders’ incentives to charge high roaming fees.

The Bureau said it believes those high fees are part of efforts to prevent smaller companies from gaining a foothold in the industry.

Full Content: Financial Post

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