Sometime in 2009, at least one new brand of wireless carrier is likely to emerge on the scene in various parts of Canada.

Access to spectrum is just one of the challenges for a new entrant. Building the network, establishing market channels, establishing their brand and their image will take even more effort.

Increased competition usually means lower prices, more choice, more product innovation. Over the past few months, we have seen aggressive reductions in data services prices and a wide variety of new devices – and that is 18 months before we see at least one more service provider per area.

What would you want to see from a new wireless player?

Will we see the end of System Access Fees? The end of national long distance and domestic roaming charges? Fixed mobile convergence? Open access to “all” devices and applications? What about casual access to competitive long distance providers? A new provider joining the Android open handset alliance?

As long as new entrants need to rely on roaming on an incumbent network until they physically extend their network reach, will “open access” be anything more than a slogan. In fact, is the recent announcement from AT&T; just such a slogan? Of course, from a marketing perspective, why does “open access” need to be more than a stated philosophy?

What would you do to establish a new wireless brand?

Finding economic mobile solutions during recent journeys have made me think about the potential winners in telecom services at the Vancouver games in February 2010, followed by the Paralympics in March.

It is old news that Bell has won the rights to be the Premier National Partner for the games.

In the wake of the release last week of the rules for the upcoming spectrum auction, the timing may be just about right for the Vancouver games to be the launching pad for some Olympic-scale competition from a flurry of new competitors.

We had some overseas visitors with us last week. To handle their mobile phone needs, we picked up a pay-as-you-go SIM card for their mobile handset. We use a similar approach when we travel south of the border or overseas.

Think of the number of international visitors that will be coming to Canada in 2010 – 18 months after the conclusion of the auction – just about the time the new entrants will be launching their services.

All of that new spectrum is going to be needed to serve the crush of visitors to the west coast. There could be a lot of telecom services winners at these games.

At least two opportunities exist. First, there is the international roaming revenue that will be generated by those visitors who don’t know (or perhaps just don’t care) about the typical cost of using your handset in a foreign country. Rogers will be the team to beat and is currently the favourite for winning the gold medal in free-style roaming.

The other opportunity will be for all of the carriers to sell some form of disposable service plan to visitors, either in the form of SIM cards to go into visitor handsets or cheap, disposable phones.

Bell may be the official supplier, but I would watch for preliminary competition to take place at Vancouver airport and the duty free shops in Blaine. Unlocked handsets adorned with Canadian flags or mountain motifs, equipped with one, two or three weeks of unlimited North America wide calling and cheap international long distance could be a splashy way for new entrants to make a grand entrance.

Let the games begin!

Over the past couple days, there have been postings and news stories about AT&T;’s decision to get out of the pay-phone business and the impending demise of pay-phones in general, thanks to the increased prevalence of mobile phone alternatives.

Yesterday, the CRTC approved TELUS’ application to de-standardize 900 Service, a victim of internet based alternatives. Most of us associate 900 service with late night TV commercials for chat lines, phone sex or astrologers. Let’s face it, the internet offers more diverse multi-media alternatives.

I remember that one of my first projects in the telecom industry was to take a look at AT&T;’s new Dial-it services. The first 976 lines from Michigan Bell had a real impact on the Canadian side of the border. Canadian kids watched the ads and dialed 976-Santa. We wanted to figure out why there was traffic going to our new digital switch which was going to host the 97X exchanges in Windsor. 976 was the local version of national 900 services.

Life was simpler then. It was only a matter of time before pay-per-call found it to be more lucrative to promote other kinds of calls.

Payphones and 900 service are headed toward obsolescence. What do you think is next?

During the CRTC hearings on Essential Services, Primus Canada seemed to capture the attention of the Commission with its announcement of its new Telemarketing Guard service [see transcripts beginning at line 16661].

Primus has been quite innovative in the Canadian local services market – more than just price, Primus has competed with new service capabilities. It was the first company in Canada to roll-out a Voice over IP service, together with an array of innovative advanced features.

During the recent hearings, Primus Canada president Ted Chislett described another new service, Telemarketing Guard, as follows:

we surveyed our customers and we found that 90 percent of our customers, they are disturbed by getting interruptions from telemarketers during the supper time. So for people who are on our local phone service, we offer a network‑based service for them, which basically gives them the option of we will intercept and block telemarketing calls to these customers.

Then, during a different proceeding on the role of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services, the Chair called attention to the Primus service [see line 668 of the transcript]. Clearly, Primus’ Telemarketing Guard attracted the attention of the CRTC.

I have commented in the past that a national Do Not Call database could be Canada’s next Gun Registry fiasco. Primus Canada has demonstrated that there is a market based approach – one that puts the consumer clearly in charge.

Don’t want calls from that number? Just hang-up and hit the appropriate star code.

The fundamental problem with the centralized database is that it imposes all the costs on the most responsible telemarketers – the ones that will play by the rules. The shady operators will continue to harass us from off-shore with annoying calls and messages. The CRTC may have found an alternative – one that puts consumers in the driver’s seat to make it work for them.

Your local phone company doesn’t offer such a service? Well then, maybe it’s time to switch.

Yak has filed two applications with the CRTC to “protect Canadians against consumer gouging.”

The applications are in response to a new trend among ILEC telephone companies to add network access fees for phone lines that aren’t signed up to monthly calling plans. Most of the telephone company long distance plans have minimum monthly fees as well.

In a press release titled Yak calls recent TELUS fee illegal; Calls on CRTC to remove it, Yak VP Andrew Boone was quoted:

Our phones have been ringing off the hook with customers who are angry and confused about this new fee. They have every right to be angry – this fee is completely unfair to customers, which is why we have taken it to the CRTC to have it removed.

PIAC and the Consumers Association of Canada are supporting Yak’s application.

In one of the applications, Yak asks the CRTC to declare TELUS’ Long Distance Network Access Charge to be “an illegal local rate increase” and asks for remedies including refunds to all consumers that have paid the fees, compensation to competing long distance providers for the harm caused by the new fee and an apology to be inserted into all customer bills.

TELUS introduced the charge on November 1 for all customers who do not subscribe to a long distance service plan. Customers were told

The charge will be used to maintain our capability to provide reliable, high quality Long Distance service to all clients at all times, through infrastructure investment in Long Distance facilities, management of telephone carrier relationships and ongoing operational and business development expenses for Long Distance service.

PIAC was cited in a recent newspaper article complaining about the fee. At the time, a TELUS spokesperson said “From time to time companies need to increase costs for providing services and this is what this is.” Keep in mind, this fee is for people who don’t subscribe to a long distance plan!

Yak’s other application seeks to have the CRTC revisit a decision from earlier this year in which the CRTC removed most constraints that apply to basic toll schedules. At the time of that decision, this blog post commented somewhat presciently that the CRTC missed an opportunity to shut down across the board network access fees.

Yak and Telehop, among some other companies, do not charge monthly fees for their dial-around or pre-subscribed long distance services.