Igor’s blog

From Michael Geist’s Blog (and others): Canada to Create Spectrum Set Aside in Wireless Auction

 Industry Minister Jim Prentice has just announced that the government
 will put in place measures as part of the forthcoming spectrum auction
 to encourage greater competition within the Canadian wireless market.
 Prentice acknowledged that Canadian wireless pricing is too high,
 particularly for data.

Whoa. I’ve been huffing and puffing about Canada’s ridicu-crazy data rates and the general oligopoly in the wireless industry for a couple of years, so this comes as a very welcome announcement.

It’ll be interesting what comes out of this. In particular with OpenMoko becoming usable for phone use, reasonable data rates will make a huge difference in adoption of phones like this. Google’s Android is also really interesting. What I’m wondering is if any of the newcomers that might bid on/win spectrum will use these new open phones and embrace openness as a competitive advantage against the old Bell/Rogers/Telus triumvirate. I sure hope so. I think it’s really important for these player (the Open Handset Alliance, and OpenMoko/Fic) to lobby new entrants to use their technologies in this way. Newcomers win (maybe). OHA/OpenMoko win (for sure). Consumers win (for sure). Fun times, fun times.