The $20 billion Rogers-Shaw merger has been more than two years in the making and last Friday, Federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, gave the go-ahead, clearing the last regulatory hurdle.
The approval came after the minister denied a request to transfer Shaw’s wireless licences held by Freedom Mobile to Rogers. Instead, the licenses will be transferred to Quebecor’s Videotron, which operates in Quebec and some border regions of Ontario.
“The way to drive down prices is through competition. Having a fourth strong national player does lead to lower prices,” Minister Champagne said.
But the approval comes with strict conditions, including for Rogers a $1 billion investment to connect rural, remote and Indigenous communities in Western Canada and $2.5 billion to expand 5G coverage.
Rogers is also required to establish a Western headquarter in Calgary, Alberta, and create 3,000 new jobs in the Prairies, to be maintained for at least 10 years.
Videotron, on the other hand, will have to offer plans that are comparable to those currently available in Quebec, including options at least 20 per cent cheaper than those made available by the major players.
Both companies are required to report to Ottawa on the implementation of conditions and failure to comply could cost up to $1 billion for Rogers and $200 million for Videotron.
Minister Champagne also warned that if Canadians don’t start to see cheaper phone and internet bills, he “will have no choice but to seek further legislative and regulatory powers to drive down prices,” adding that “everything is on the table.”
Opposition parties, however, were not convinced, and blasted Ottawa’s decision.
During the question period last Friday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused the Liberals of “standing up for price-raising and high-cost corporate oligarchs” instead of standing up for consumers.
In Toronto, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told a press conference that the merger “is going to mean a loss of jobs and higher fees for Canadians,” and Ottawa should not be “allowing these massive monopolies to get even larger.”
The merger is now expected to close by April 7.
Rogers is the parent company of OMNI News.
