Canadian wireless carrier Globalive, which is better known by its subsidiary brand Wind Mobile, is reportedly in talks to acquire competing carrier Mobilicity. An unnamed person familiar with the negotiations told Bloomberg that Globalive is attempting to build its presence in the Canadian market to compete with dominant carriers Bell, Rogers and Telus.
Russian cellphone provider VimpelCom on Thursday announced plans to acquire Canadian cell carrier Wind Mobile. The $6 billion deal would likely conclude in the first half of 2011 and result in the fifth-largest provider in the world, with 173 million subscribers. Egypt-based Orascom is owned by VimpelCom and also has a significant share in Wind.
The Federal Court in Canada on Friday rejected a government exemption that allowed Wind Mobile to run. A judge ruled that the Conservative government violated the Telecommunications Act's rules on foreign ownership by allowing Globalive, which owns Wind, to run the cell carrier with more than a 20 percent share stake owned by a foreign company. Globalive has 45 days to either appeal the verdict or reduce its foreign owner's share.
The Canadian government today cleared Globalive to run what should be the country's fourth national carrier. After initially letting the CRTC reject Globalive's WIND service due to concerns about foreign ownership, Industry Minister Tony Clement now says the results have been overturned as it's been decided that the foreign investment in the company doesn't constitute "in fact" control that would violate Canadian ownership laws. The decision takes effect immediately and clears WIND to run as soon as it's ready.
Cable provider Quebecor today said it would roll out an HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) 3G network across Canada and establish itself as only the second carrier using the technology in the country. The company plans to have the first elements of its network in use within the next 12 to 18 months and plans to finish its efforts within four years.
The Canadian auction for the 2GHz wireless spectrum has ended and confirmed the creation of a new carrier for the country, Industry Canada announced on Monday. The end of bidding will see Globalive, which operates Yak Mobile in Canada but is primarily supported by foreign investments, pay $442 million for a license that gives it licenses to cover all of the country's provinces with services except for Quebec, where it lost out to competing firms such as cable and media powerhouse Quebecor.
