The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that last week, BCE announced it had struck a deal to acquire Manitoba Telecom Services, Manitoba's incumbent wireless provider. Guest columnists Martin Masse and Paul Beaudry
write that the BCE-MTS deal would bring the number of wireless players in Manitoba down from four to three. Still, they wonder whether this necessarily constitutes a bad deal for consumers.
Many Manitobans appear to think so and have voiced concerns their wireless bills might rise. It is true that Manitoba wireless bills are currently among the country's lowest.
However, that situation is likely unsustainable and explains why MTS was in a precarious financial situation and a prime acquisition target.
From another perspective, it can be argued that the Bell-MTS deal is good news for consumers. Posttransaction, Manitoba will have three -- rather than two -- large wireless competitors. The deal also means increased network investment.
Bell has announced that it plans to spend $1-billion over the next five years to upgrade the MTS network to LTE standards. Mr. Masse and Mr. Beaudry believe Canada should return to a regime of light-handed regulation for the benefit of consumers.
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