The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition BMO Nesbitt Burns analyst Tim Casey remains optimistic about the fortunes of Canada's telcos. The Globe's Christine Dobby quotes Mr. Casey as saying: "In short, the functioning oligopoly remains intact. Operators compete on service rather than price." Pricing innovation continues apace in the United States. There, T-Mobile led with a new model for marketing devices in 2013. T-Mobile got access to Apple's iPhone and also introduced the new pricing strategy, giving customers the ability to pick up a new handset with no upfront cost. Part of T-Mobile's "uncarrier" strategy, the model separated monthly service charges from the cost of a new smart phone and did away with two-year contracts. The other U.S. carriers soon followed suit. Scotia Capital analyst Jeff Fan figures that as Canadian smart phone penetration continues to increase, equipment instalment plans (known as EIPs) may become an attractive way to compete for new customers. "I suspect once that growth strategy starts to mature, then they [Videotron and Wind] will move towards strategies we've seen in the U.S.," Mr. MacDonald said.