Freedom open to network-sharing with Rogers, president says

As Shaw Communications Inc. continues to expand its Freedom Mobile brand, a top executive said the company would like to enter into a network sharing arrangement with Rogers Communications Inc. at some point, a desire not shared with the bigger telecom. “I think the industrial logic of network sharing is tough to refute. You’ve seen Bell and Telus do it very successfully. Certainly every day that we continue to stand up a higher quality network and bring on better and deeper spectrum assets is a day where those conversations can make more sense,” Freedom’s president Paul McAleese said at a TD investor conference on Thursday. McAleese was referring to the 11-year old arrangement between BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. to share network infrastructure. He added that Shaw is “assuming that that phone call never comes, and if it does it will be beneficial for both parties.” Later in the day, however, Rogers’ chief technology officer Jorge Fernandes threw cold water on the idea, saying that the technology requirements of the upcoming 5G roll-out would make a network sharing arrangement more trouble than it would be worth. In negotiating deals with outfits like Amazon Web Services, Google, or Microsoft, Fernandes said, any network sharing arrangement with Shaw would give the latter company benefits that Rogers worked for. Pressed for further clarification by TD Securities analyst Vince Valentini about whether or not plans for network sharing with Shaw were down the road, Fernandes was clear. “Given my previous experiences with network sharing? No, they’re not very high on my list,” he said. Fernandes came to Rogers in 2018 after 16 years at Vodafone. Elsewhere in the conference, executives reiterated to investors what their companies have been telling the CRTC about the possibility of mandating MVNO access to incumbent facilities. “MVNOs are hard, they’re complex, and they usually fail. What little works for them is going to be more of a disadvantage for the only people driving change in the canadian market which are the regional players,” McAleese said. In it’s submission to the CRTC last week, Shaw told the commission that mandating MVNO access to incumbent facilities would “diminish the disciplining power of the new competitors, ultimately restoring the Big 3 to a joint dominance position that will then carry through to the 5G era.” McAleese said the Canadian retail market is particularly tight, pointing out that Freedom Mobile is in its ninth year on a waiting list to get a retail outlet in Toronto’s Eaton Centre, and also its ninth year waiting for a space in the Burlington Centre in Burlington, Ontario. “If Vince Valentini decides he’s gonna go get an MVNO tomorrow, that's great,” McAleese said, using the TD Securities analyst as a stand-in. “You’re gonna be selling in the parking lot."

Freedom open to network-sharing with Rogers, president says

Brief | May 24, 2019

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Freedom open to network-sharing with Rogers, president says

Brief | May 24, 2019

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