Originally Posted by Simon
Firstly, the reason Microcell doesn't exist any more is the items you describe above. They were on their way to bankruptcy.
Second, in the US, the major carriers are:
Verizon
Cingular
T-Mobile
Sprint Nextel
...exactly one more than in Canada.
Simon
Are you saying that a fourth operator in the Canadian market would not significantly improve things for the consumer? If so, I disagree. I think Rogers would disagree as well; I doubt they bought Fido for its assets or income.
I realize that Fido's inherent problem was that they couldn't grow their user base until they grew their network, and vice versa. While I'm sure their early losses were fantastic, I think they could have reached a tipping point where they could have been a big player had their pockets been deep enough.
The only reason that I'm not still a loyal Fido customer is that I moved from Toronto to Halifax in 2002, where Fido had no coverage. I've been bending over monthly for Rogers ever since, even after my move back to T.O. in 2003.
We'll see if Wireless Number Portability (if it happens) shakes things up a bit next year.