Competition Bureau says ok

The final hurdle in the merger of Bell and MTS has been completed and everything is good to go according to the companies.

On Wednesday February 15, 2017 the Competition Bureau of Canada approved the merger with only a few conditions.

The Bureau was concerned that the loss of a regional competitor in Manitoba would have a detrimental effect on “constraining the pricing of Bell, Rogers and TELUS products.”

They also determined that with MTS no longer an independent regional competitor it “would likely result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition for retail wireless services in Manitoba.” The fear would be that “this would likely lead to higher prices and fewer options for Manitobans.”

The Competition Bureau set a number of terms that must be followed as part of their consent agreement, Bell must sell six retail outlets, 24,700 subscribers and 40MHz of spectrum to Xplornet, a rural broadband internet provider in Canada, including Manitoba. The deal also requires that a “significant number” of MTS subscribers and about 30% of its dealer locations must be sold to Telus.

“While today’s consent agreement is expected to address my concerns with the merger, we will continue to keep a close watch on competition in Manitoba and across Canada in the mobile wireless services market, said John Pecman, Commissioner of Competition. “Given the findings of our review, any future potential mergers by Canada’s three largest mobile wireless providers, Bell, Rogers and TELUS, can expect to receive a close examination by the Bureau.”

-News4 Staff-