The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, May 4, edition that it was announced this week that BCE is buying Manitoba Telecom Services. The Globe's guest columnist Tony Clement wonders whether this deal is good for Canadians. As it stands, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have some of the cheapest cellular plans available in Canada, thanks to an increase in competition in those provinces, with MTS in Manitoba and SaskTel in Saskatchewan competing for customers with the other nationally recognized carriers. This is a case of increased competition bringing down prices for consumers. Mr. Clement ponders whether increased competition automatically brings better service. In a move to make this deal more palatable to regulators (who may not react kindly to a decrease in competition), it has been reported that BCE will, in a separate deal, sell a third of MTS's postpaid subscriber base and various retail locations to Telus. With Bell and Telus slicing up MTS between them, it is up to these companies to make the case to consumers and regulators that this deal will benefit Canadians with an increase in service throughout Manitoba and the maintaining of the current pricing level.