There has been lots written on the cost of wireless costs in Canada. Tom Purves wrote a great article that looked at how Canada is lagging far behind the rest of the world with sky high rates. What effect does this have? Well in my opinion it puts the development community a few steps behind and keep the industry from truly becoming what it should be.

I look at it like this.

1> If there was truly competition we would be seeing a lot more usage of rich content on mobile devices. As it stands now people aren’t using the services like they should. If I was the man at the top of the food chain at one of these Canadian carriers I would be all over doing what ever I could so that people used the content that is so readily available.

2> If the content and services we accessible at a lower cost I would take advantage and use the wireless capabilities. The more people available and using the service, the more demand for apps, the more the carriers can charge for licensing deals and make their money on the back end on these deals instead of on the front end from the customer.

3> It would also change the types of devices that people would be willing to buy. Instead of opting for the low end cellphones we would see better devices becoming more prevalent. The increased demand for these devices would surely increase the bottom line on the retail front for the carriers.

4> If there was a change in the way we are billed I think we would see a great emphasis on the development of Apps from Canadian development houses. Who for the most part have stayed away from developing on this as it is too expensive to use. We have some of the most talented developers in the world …let them loose on the Canadian scene.

So is there hope for Canada? Damn I hope so. An interesting thing to note is the upcoming auction for the 700mhz band in the USA. Google has opend the war chest and intends to play in this arena. Allotting 4.6 billion for this auction. But this is more then just a snap up of frequencies …..Google is trying to change the way the FCC looks at and administers the use. Google in an attempt to level the playing field has urged the FCC to adopt some guidlines for the winners of the auctions:

“Google wants the FCC to agree to its four “open” platform recommendations, which include: open applications for users; open devices that will work with whichever network provider customers choose; open services that would allow for third-party resellers to acquire wireless services on a wholesale basis; and open networks, which would allow third parties, such as Internet service providers, to interconnect at any feasible point within the 700MHz licensee’s wireless network.”

So when will we see a real change in the way the system operates? I wish I had the answer. Will the Canadian wake up and hear the people screaming? Time will tell. Probably the best thing for the industry is a US carrier setting up shop north of the border and poaching customers. We need competition not collusion.

Cheers

Scott

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our web feed!

Categories: Canada, ConceptShare ~ ~ Trackback