Room for only 1 more big mobile player: Wind chairman

In Canada’s already cutthroat telecom market, there’s room for only one more national wireless carrier, says the chairman of one of the newest entrants.

Wind chairman Anthony Lacavera expects partnerships to forge between new service providers as they jostle to win over mobile subscribers.

In December, Globalive Communication Corp’s Wind brand became the first carrier to enter the ring after the federal government’s 2008 spectrum auction, taking incumbents Rogers, Bell and Telus head-on. On Thursday, startup company Public Mobile opened the doors to its stores in Toronto and Montreal with network service slated for May. Other new entrants include Craig Wireless, Mobilicity and Quebecor’s Videotron.

“The new entrants will have a real challenge ahead of them because they’re pure startups,” Lacavera told QMI Agency. Egyptian-backed Globalive already has a stable of services overseas including the popular Yak home telephone and wireless business.

Consolidation is also on the horizon among the incumbents as they respond to the new market pressures, he said.

Wind fancies itself among those adding pressure and is aggressively going after a slice of the mobile pie. The company has set a target of 1.5 million subscribers in its first three years and aims to see that number rise to about 5 million roughly five to seven years down the road.

The figures would bring Wind’s market share in the neighbourhood of 15%, Lacavera said. Canada’s big three telecom giants currently enjoy upwards of 90% of all mobile revenues in the country.

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Wind. A high-profile debate over foreign control and ownership rules had the company waiting in limbo for 16 months until federal Industry Minister Tony Clement overruled a CRTC decision to block the company.

Wind then rushed its launch and suffered teething pains because of it, research firm SeaBoard Group said in a recent report.

Network issues, billing problems and a high-level corporate shakeup are all symptoms of a carrier that wasn’t quite ready for market, the report said. In little over three months, the company has signed up a total of about 30,000 customers in launch cities Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary, SeaBoard estimates.

Lacavera says the hiccups are typical of any new company and Wind is beefing up its network by adding towers and antennae daily.

“We’re the new kid on the block and we’re going to have to prove ourselves to Canadians,” Lacavera said.