Rogers CEO slams competitors over calls for set-asides

Ted Rogers, CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., lashed out again at competitors seeking a set-aside in the upcoming spectrum auction during the media and communications conglomerate's 2007 second-quarter conference call earlier today. Rogers did the same during the company's Q1 call earlier this year."In a nutshell competition and subsidized entry are contradictions in terms, period," he said during the discussion of financial and subscriber results,,repeating the statement for good measure. "Those looking for government handouts can twist the facts around but the reality is that we have intense competition in Canadian wireless today. We have some of the lowest wireless prices in the world for the average consumer."Rogers Communications, along with its biggest rivals Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility, have banded together to convince the federal government that rules for the upcoming spectrum auction should be the same for all participants. They say the companies asking for special treatment don't need it because they are large, well-financed corporations. As well the Big Three say setting aside spectrum for competitors would ultimately be borne by the Canadian taxpayer."The notion setting aside artificially low-priced spectrum for well-financed special interests by having the Canadian taxpayer subsidize it is purely disgraceful," Rogers stated emphatically. "There's one thing to say there should be a set-aside...but to say that they should get it at a price that is way lower than what we're going to have to pay for spectrum is outrageous and we protest in the strongest way."The incumbent wireless carriers also note that the government has always employed a light touch to regulation when it came to wireless and is now using this same approach in other telecommunications markets. Rogers noted this in his opening remarks."Our current government industry has made it abundantly clear that it stands for telecom markets governed by free-market competition without stifling, detailed regulatory interference, which the government and the minister done so much to streamline and improve over the past year," he said. "So I'll say it again: competition and subsidized entry are contradictions in terms. As a nationalist I hope I'm not being naïve in assuming that our government will walk the talk as they develop and hand down these important rules."While Rogers' comments shouldn't ruffle any feathers and were largely expected, it will be interesting to hear what executives from both BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. have to say during their respective second-quarter conference calls this week. Telus CEO Darren Entwistle went on the record after revealing it was in the hunt for BCE that he would support a set-aside for new entrants, hoping that support might curry favour with competition regulators mulling over a BCE-Telus merger.What Telus and BCE say during their calls might be moot though. The fact that analysts haven't yet ruled out Telus anteing up again for BCE could play a huge role in convincing Industry Canada, its main decision-makers and Minister Maxime Bernier that perhaps setting aside spectrum would be a reasonable thing to do.Enabling the sector to consolidate into two national players is something that would be difficult to undo. But allowing a four- or five-player market to consolidate in the future would be market forces at work. And that would certainly be in keeping with recent regulatory doctrine under the Conservative minority government.

Rogers CEO slams competitors over calls for set-asides

News | 07/31/2007 7:21 pm EDT

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