OTTAWA – The head of the Competition Bureau said Tuesday that the watchdog’s opposition to Rogers’s acquisition of Shaw was the correct move, citing high prices Canadians pay compared to international peers.
“While it didn’t go our way, I fully stand by our decision to challenge that merger,” Competition commissioner Matthew Boswell said on the second day of the International Institute of Communications conference in Ottawa.
“We put forward a responsible, evidence-based case. That is our job. We carefully scrutinized all the evidence, knowing the differing incentives of all parties,” he added.
“We fought the right fight for the right reasons and on the right principles.”
The commission’s fight ended when the Federal Court of Appeal upheld a Competition Tribunal’s rejection of the bureau’s application to block the deal, citing competition and price concerns. The tribunal found that Videotron, which would acquire Shaw’s Freedom Mobile, would boost competition, not lessen it, in part because of the Montreal company’s track record of lower prices in Quebec.
The bureau decided against taking the case to the Supreme Court.
Both Rogers and Videotron closed their acquisitions of Shaw and Freedom, respectively, early last month.
In his keynote, Boswell said the bureau understands the “lack of competition in the telecom sector” is concerning for Canadians because they “get a monthly reminder when the bill comes in for the telecom services they pay for. It’s consistently higher here than in other countries.”
Boswell said the bureau is participating in the CRTC’s review of its wholesale internet framework.
Experts and industry players have criticized Canada’s competition laws for the consolidation of the two cable giants. Specifically, criticism has been levied against the rules that allow consolidations that have anti-competitive effects if they are outweighed by economic “efficiency” benefits.
Last year, the federal government launched a consultation on reforming the Competition Act. The bureau is participating in that process.
