WIND MOBILE CALLS FOUL PLAY ON MISLEADING ADS BY ROGERS' CHATR

Anthony Lacavera asks telecom incumbents to play fair - in their advertising and business practices

Encourages government to introduce policies that promote competition, innovation and ensure fair access to all media content for all market players

TORONTO, Sept. 30 /CNW/ - In a speech to Toronto's Board of Trade today, WIND Mobile Chairman Anthony Lacavera had strong words for Canada's telecom incumbents:  play fair - in both advertising and business practices.  Beyond his competitors, Lacavera stated his position on foreign ownership, ownership of media assets and the need for policies that support fair competition and promote innovation in Canada. 

On Rogers Chatr's Recent Advertising
Lacavera had strong words for Rogers Chatr's recent advertising campaign claiming that Chatr's network is more reliable and that they have fewer dropped calls than all the new entrants.  With pointed remarks, he aimed to set the record straight. According to Lacavera, the current Chatr advertising is so misleading, so anti-competitive, that WIND has lodged a complaint with the Canadian Competition Bureau. 

"There is absolutely no solid or objective technical basis for Chatrs' claim to have more network reliability and fewer dropped calls than WIND. The truth is that Rogers does not have access to our network stats and we don't have access to theirs, which makes it impossible to accurately compare networks."

"What's even more ludicrous is the dropped call claim. In most countries around the world when a customer moves from one carriers network to another, there is a seamless transition for the caller. It's called a soft hand-off and the call continues without disruption.  In Canada however, when a caller moves from our WIND home zone to roam on an incumbent network, their call is immediately dropped by the incumbent - a process called a hard hand-off.  It means that a WIND customer would experience a dropped call made as a result of the incumbent hand-off policy, having nothing to do with our network."

"The incumbents have taken advantage of a loop-hole in the government policy to use hard hand-offs and then have the audacity to exploit that advantage and market against WIND and the other new entrants for dropped calls that the incumbents actually create."

On the Need for Policies that Support Fair Competition
Lacavera stated that what's needed are government regulations that support the consumer, not regulations which support entrenched anti-competitive behavior. 

"Specifically I am talking about the acquisition and control of spectrum, tower sharing, and roaming agreements.  Despite the fact that spectrum is a finite resource, incumbents squat on large unused spectrum holdings in order to limit competition.  Government should give new entrant access to spectrum in upcoming auctions to ensure incumbents do not acquire it at any price to stave off further competition."

"Tower-sharing should be encouraged with incentives, or at a minimum disincentives for not sharing.  There are environmental considerations to this, first and foremost."

"Stronger consumer protections are needed, including preventing market players from charging abusive early termination fees, excessive overage charges, system access fees and my personal favourite the Government Recovery fee that has absolutely nothing to do with the government!  The incumbents will argue that consumers do not need protection, that self-regulation is sufficient.  Canadians know better than to let the fox mind the hen house."

On Foreign Ownership Restrictions and Ownership of Media Assets
Lacavera addresses the foreign ownership issue and Bell's recent purchase of CTV. He highlighted that Canadians should be concerned about the concentration of ownership of legacy media assets in Canada.  Canadian telecom and cable companies are keenly acquiring legacy content - noting Rogers' acquisition of CityTV properties, Shaw's purchase of the old CanWest media properties, and most recently Bell's purchase of the TV assets of CTV/GlobeMedia.

"What we should actually be concerned about is the concentration of ownership of legacy media assets in Canada. Where we once had a variety of voices; we are increasingly living in a Canada where our content distributors own our content." 

"We must find a way to amend foreign ownership restrictions and allow Canadian telecom businesses access to foreign capital while still maintaining and protecting Canadian culture. The two are not mutually exclusive."

"In this new world, net neutrality and an open internet will be more critical than ever.  Canada risks going against the grain in terms of net-neutrality if we allow telecom giants the ability to force and control access to their proprietary content." 

About Globalive Holdings and WIND Mobile
WIND Mobile provides voice, text and data services to Canadians on a next-generation, all IP wireless network and is committed to offering a level of wireless service presently not available in Canada. WIND Mobile is built on actual conversations that are happening with Canadians who are passionate about wireless and creating a better mobile offering nationally. For more information, please visit www.WINDmobile.ca.

Globalive Holdings is a leading provider of telecommunications solutions in Canada and internationally to the consumer, business and hospitality markets. The Globalive companies include: WIND Mobile, Yak, One Connect, Canopco and Globalive Carrier Services. For more information, visit www.globalive.com.

For further information:

to arrange an interview or to obtain a full copy of the speech, please contact:
Micha Goddard, Narrative Advocacy Media [phone] ext.3277 or [e-mail]