Shaw bundles internet and wireless in new mobile offering

Shaw Communications Inc.’s first Shaw-branded wireless service has launched in Alberta and British Columbia, giving the company’s internet customers up to six lines of unlimited talk and text, as well as two data plan options. Those data options are By the Gig -- a $10 per gigabyte option for those who only use a moderate amount of LTE data -- and a $45 “unlimited” plan, where customers are required to purchase additional GBs to continue browsing at optimum speeds after reaching a usage level of 25 GBs, or their speeds are throttled. Unused data on both plans will roll over for the next 90 days, while By the Gig customers who reach their data limit will need to purchase more data to continue browsing over LTE networks, instead of being charged overages. Only LTE data used over wireless networks counts towards those limits, with Shaw CEO Brad Shaw stating in a press release that many customers could “realistically eliminate much of their monthly wireless expense” by using their home WiFi connection, or one of Shaw’s 450,0000 WiFi hotspots. In a press conference on Wednesday, ahead of Thursday’s product launch, Shaw president Paul McAleese said both the $0 talk and text offer and the $45 unlimited data plan was “exceedingly good value.” “I think for customers it’s a really innovative experience, it’s gonna let them leverage the best of their in-home WiFi, our outside of the home WiFi and our fast LTE network, really providing them with a platform that’s designed to save them money,” McAleese said. “And more now than ever we believe that’s going to be something that resonates with our western Canadian market.” McAleese said the product was conceived because of the large amount of wireless data being “loaded off” onto WiFi infrastructure, a trend which has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. “In a market where there is still metered LTE data consumers hunt for WiFi and work hard to get it and the product we’re launching today recognises that, really taps into that and I think will provide the consumer with the kind of cost saving platform that they’ve been looking for,” he said. Shaw has a current wireless market share of about seven per cent in western Canada, McAleese said, but aims for it to be more in line with its internet market share of about 50 per cent. The company wants to do so without destabilizing the market, adding the launch pricing was introductory but not necessarily permanent. “We will be very thoughtful about making sure that we have a thoughtful, stable approach to the marketplace. We’ve been very rational competitors in wireless on the Freedom brand over the last number of years, we’ll continue to be rational on the Shaw brand in the coming months and years as well,” he said. McAleese said Shaw’s model was the opposite to incumbent telecoms’ historic reliance on small data limits that led to large overage charges, which he said was still considerable despite decreasing as unlimited data plans entered the market. “We want customers to feel good about using their devices, we think that they’re going to have a best connected experience and a lowest cost possibility and that’s exactly what Shaw Mobile is designed to do,” McAleese said. Shaw’s offering would “substantially” surpass the federal government’s aim for incumbents to reduce the cost of some wireless plans by 25 per cent, McAleese said, adding the company was “exceedingly proud of how aggressive we’ve been able to be here in bundling these packages together.” McAleese said Shaw was also “tremendously proud” of launching the product during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying Shaw’s response to financial analysts who had queried the timing was “what better time to launch a high value plan than when people are most financially struggling.” McAleese said the company did not plan to expand its footprint beyond western Canada because the plans were designed to complement Shaw’s wired infrastructure. Asked if Shaw had plans to expand the product to Saskatoon or Winnipeg, where it also had wired networks, McAleese said the product would be restricted to the B.C. and Alberta markets “for now.” But customers traveling outside Alberta and B.C. will still be able to use both the talk and text and data plans, whether they’re using Shaw’s network or that of one of its partners, McAleese said. The new product and Shaw’s existing Freedom brand have “very different and distinct appeals,” McAleese said, and the company’s status as a “challenger brand” meant there was likely to be little likelihood of it cannibalising Freedom’s customer base. “If a Freedom customer chooses to move their pricing into Shaw, that’s fine, we’re quite comfortable having that conversation and that transfer over, but the vast majority, we believe, of customers that will come to Shaw Mobile will be new and accretive to our wireless objectives,” McAleese said. Shaw’s research indicates the majority of customers will initially bring their own phone over to the new product rather than purchasing a new device, McAleese said, but a “limited degree” of subsidy will be available on Shaw Mobile’s unlimited plan, with Shaw set to stock most popular handsets. For the time being, SIM cards are required to transition over to Shaw Mobile, meaning customers will have to physically visit a store to get set up. The company plans to roll-out eSIMs but they’re “still a few months away,” McAleese said. Shaw has 19 retail locations in B.C. and Alberta, including 12 “new and enhanced” stores in shopping centres that will be opened by the end of summer, plus more than 120 stores owned by its national retail partners. Activating a Shaw Mobile service will cost $20 per line. -- With reporting by Adam Langenberg at alangenberg@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Shaw bundles internet and wireless in new mobile offering

News | 07/30/2020 6:00 am EDT

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