Amid the hype about Verizon’s potential entry into the Canadian cellphone market this summer, there was an assumption among some the U.S. wireless giant would cut consumers a better price.
Judging by comments made by the company’s chief executive at a conference Tuesday, the assumption would be dead wrong.
“I can assure our investors that we never have and never will be leading on price,” Lowell McAdam said at an investor conference in New York.
Had the carrier followed through on offers it made for struggling startups Wind Mobile and Mobilicity this year, a price war of sorts might have erupted between it and Rogers, Telus and Bell, but Verizon wouldn’t be the instigator, some analysts say.
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In fact, the current plans offered by Wind and Mobilicity – limitless voice and data (though throttled after a certain amount of use) – would vanish under Verizon ownership, experts suggest.
“We did expect some innovation in dimensions like data sharing and continental roaming, but not a ‘discount’ brand foray,” Grant said.
Asked about open-ended use of monthly data, a plan feature adopted by some European carriers, the exec responded: “I don’t see us going the way of Europe.”
“When you put money into a network, you’re going to want to see a return on capital,” he said.
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