By now we are all aware of the federal government policy inviting US giant Verizon to obtain a lion share of the Canadian telecom market at bargain prices at the expense of Canadian owned companies BCE, Telus and Rogers currently dominating the market.
BCE (Bell) has been very vocal on the subject: http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=61797553&qm_symbol=BCE
How do Canadians feel about the federal government policy?
Valve - You being retired from Bell and getting your pension cheques from them every month and your dividend cheques every three months, how does it feel to send $10 monthly to the Conservative Party ?
Now, most Canadians with a cellphone feel they pay too much and hope American competition will help reduce the monthly charge.
Reality check: a recent study commissioned by the Conservative federal government through Industry Canada and CRTC found:
For a plan including 450 incoming and outgoing minutes, voice mail and call display and 300 text messages per month, the cost was $44.86 in Canada. A similar plan in the U.S. cost $76.14 and $38.85 in Britain after adjusting for currency and the relative purchasing power of the Canadian dollar.
A plan including 1,200 incoming and outgoing minutes, 300 text messages and one gigabyte of data usage per month was $93.59 in Canada, $145.79 in the U.S. and $63.52 in Britain after currency adjustments.
The question is: What do you think of Harper's telecom policies?
"May be hard to change the policy when the likes of Target are allowed here or any other large conglomerate"
I think most Canadians agree Verizon should be allowed to come and compete here. That has never been the question.
The problem is the preferential treatment given to the American company at the expenses of the three Canadian companies.
http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=62193880&qm_symbol=BCE
"More compitetion should translate into better prices."
In theory that is correct. Economics 101
However, a quick look at what American providers charge their customers in the USA for the same service clearly shows higher prices in the USA. These American guys are in business to make money, not to provide better service at lower prices.
I think the average person has got themsleves in this situation. I guess it's just me, old school, that I have two cell phones and all they do is make and take calls. Cost for both together 52.34 a month. It's the internet and texting that seems to drive up the prices for many people I know. If cell phone servers were finding people were using their phones less then they would probably drop prices just to get them back. I don't see much change happening if US servers come to Canada. JMPO
"I wonder if Verizon has offered Harper a position on their board once he retires. "
Maybe, just maybe, he is planning a "Mulroney" (paper bags loaded with hundreds of thousands of (undeclared) cash) after he retires.
"I have one cell phone. It is the seniors special from Rogers. Costs me abut $15 a month. It only makes calls and texts - and I never text. In fact, I only turn the phone on when I want to make a call."
Puck, your cell need is about the same as mine. You should be able to get it cheaper. I buy a $100 per year top up and rarely use more than $30 of it before topping up again a year later. Of course I'm with Bell. The only thing I don't like about it is thay don't give me a 35% discount as they do on all other services I have with them. Aw, I feel so bad about that 
"beside the point and insignificant."
????
Have you looked at the huge amounts of money involved? Money coming from Canadians users.
"one or two tiny small Canadian operators"
???
Have you checked the amounts of money involved in those "tiny" operators?
The deal blocked by the federal government for one carrier was for $380,000,000 . Nothing "tiny" about it.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/06/04/business-telecom-wireless.html
"Canadian rates are ridiculous compared to most other countries."
That is correct. See link in earlier post. Canadian rates are higher than most countries except for the USA where Verizon does business at higher rates. Think about it.
"Also heard today that Canadian wireless cos. most profitable I believe in the world."
Not sure where you hear your news but take a look at Verizon. Revenue US$ 118,000,000,000 (we are talking about billions here) Gross profit of over US$ 69,000,000,000 (billions again) Cash Flow over US$ 33,000,000,000 (billions again)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=VZ+Key+Statistics
Current market value: over US$ 134,000,000,000 (billions again)
Their annual profits are more than BCE, Telus, Rogers, combined.
By contract, the shares of the largest Canadian operators (BCE) have a capitalization (market value) of less than Cdn$33,000,000,000
http://web.tmxmoney.com/quote.php?qm_symbol=bce
I invite you to check Telus and Rogers and do the addition. Then compare to the American giant.
