A new public poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute (ARI) has found that most Manitobans disapprove of the deal that would break up MTS — the province’s largest telecommunications company — and send its customers to national companies Bell and Telus.
The public opinion poll included 450 adult Manitobans, the majority of whom stated the proposed sale would be bad for the prices they pay for service. Overall, three-in-five Manitoba residents disapproved of the sale, while just one-in-five stated it would be either “good” or “very good” for the province as a whole. Additionally, nearly half noted it would negatively affect the amount of competition in the marketplace.
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Roughly half of Manitoba’s cell phone users are MTS customers, and the ARI survey found that two-in-three Manitobans got either their cell phone, landline, cable television or some combination of the three, from MTS. Interestingly, there was very little difference in opinion between MTS customers and non-customers as both followed the overall 60-40 split in disapproving of the deal.
The only area where Manitobans saw the deal as positive was in relation to telecommunications infrastructure in the province, as Bell has promised to spend 1$ billion over five years in that department.
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Complete details of the poll can be found on the ARI website here.
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