1. Consumer issues
1.1. cost of plans higher in canada than most countries
1.1.1. examples: - contracts with plan minimum (eg. $50) - "Free" phones
1.2. Long contracts
1.2.1. 3 year ridiculous contracts with high termination costs
1.3. poor customer service
1.3.1. due to lack of competition, companies are not worried about losing customers because they're bound by huuuge contracts
1.4. companies don't care about the individual customers as much as they would if they had better competition
1.5. lack of variety in current cell plans
1.6. Lack of quality in cell service due to lack of competition
1.7. EXPENSIVE data plans! 500MB of data for $31.25 (Rogers) where in the states it's possible to get unlimited data for $79.99 from sprint
2. Facts
2.1. Rogers bell & telus - controls 94% of the wireless market in Canada
2.2. Mobilicity bought $243 Million of the auctioned wireless spectrum in 2008 and started offering services in 2010.
2.3. Companies spent 1.8 billion on infrastructure in 2010, down from 2.2 billion in 2009
2.4. Telus reports that they would prefer that the government limit the amount of spectrum each company can acquire, as that would would be a balanced way to promote competition and investment
3. Possible Solutions
3.1. Government reserving space for smaller wireless providers (700MHz Band)
3.1.1. Could help the competition grow
3.1.2. Increased competition means better plans, shorter contracts, better customer support, companies will start caring about their customers staying with them
3.2. Bidding limits per company on the new spectrum(s)
3.2.1. this gives a more fair way to encourage competition and give smaller companies a chance to flourish
3.2.2. New spectrum (700Mhz) is very powerful
3.2.2.1. Can penetrate through walls
3.2.2.2. twice as effective as current 1900 and 2100mhz standards, will effectively double the broadcast range of current towers
3.2.2.3. LTE (Long Term Evolution) speeds are available with this frequency
3.2.2.3.1. Download rates up to 299.6 mbit/s and upload up to 75.4mbit/s
3.2.2.3.2. Low latency, below 5ms with smaller packets
3.2.2.3.3. Support for many different ranges, from tens of meters to 100km (obviously lower range = better performance)
3.2.2.3.4. Support for moving connections up to 350km/h or 500km/h depending on the frequency band
3.2.2.3.5. Spectrum flexibility: 1.4mhz, 3mhz, 5mhz, 10mhz, 15mhz, 20mhz
3.2.2.3.6. Support for up to 200 data clients on a 5mhz cell
3.2.2.3.7. Uses OFDMA for downlink, SC-FDMA for uplink (conserves power)