If anyone can track down Telus CEO Darren Entwistle, don't be surprised if he looks like the cat who swallowed the canary. With Rogers Communications boldly stepping up to the plate to acquire Microcell Telecommunications for $1.4-billion, Telus gets what it really wanted: consolidation within the wireless industry without more debt on its balance sheet. It's really the best of both worlds for Telus, which has slowly been winning back investor confidence for the past four years since spending nearly $7-billion to purchase Clearnet Communications. While Telus may feign disappointment in seeing its $29-a-share bid trumped by Rogers' $35 offer, you have to wonder if Telus forced Rogers into the arms of Microcell by making what could easily described as a half-hearted offer for Microcell. The obvious question is whether Telus really wanted Microcell? After all, Telus would have been forced to take on more debt; the cultural/corporate integration challenges would have been enormous; and the technical issues (Telus uses CDMA, Microcell uses GSM) would have be expensive and a complex headache. Entwistle can look at what happened today as a minor victory. With only three national players, the pricing environment should - in theory - improve, allowing each carrier to improve average revenue per user (ARPU). The wildcard could be Virgin Canada, the joint venture between Richard Branson's Virgin Mobile and Bell Canada. If Rogers moves Microcell out of the pre-paid market or struggles to integrate its operations, the huge window of opportunity could open for Virgin. Of course, this is something that will happen down the road. In the meantime, I suspect champagne is being toasted in Toronto (Rogers), Montreal (Microcell) and Vancouver (Telus).

Over the weekend, the Globe & Mail's business section ran a story about Research in Motion reaching a crucial strategic crossroad. The thesis, which is far from new, is that while RIM has enjoyed tremendous success and attracted nearly two million users, it is vulnerable to competitive threats from hardware makers such as Nokia and Samsung, and software developers such as Microsoft. This is legitimate argument given Canada's track record in the high-tech hardware sector is less than stellar, but it unfortunately ignores a key element: RIM's growing and powerful cache as the device for mobile e-mail. Say what you want about the Treo 600, or devices made by Danger Technology, Good Technology and Nokia, the RIM Blackberry is a category monster. Until someone comes up with a much better mousetrap, RIM will continue to be the dominant player. What RIM has managed to become is the default for people looking for on-the-go e-mail. This much-coveted but difficult to attain status is similar to what Apple has with the iPod in the MP3 player space, what eBay has achieved in the online auction space, and what Google has in the online search market. When a company is seen as not only the market leader but the market, it becomes very difficult for rivals to knock it off. Over the years, there have been a flurry of "the sky is falling" stories about RIM but the Waterloo, Ont.-based company continues to roll along. It wasn't that long ago that big, bad Motorola was going to roll over RIM, but where is Motorola these days in the mobile e-mail market? Nokia was also going to be a major treat but has, instead, licensed RIM's software after its original N-Gage product bombed out. Nokia should really focus on making sure its wireless phones are as cool as those made by Samsung and LG before it worries about developing a RIM-killer. Clearly, RIM realizes there is competition on the horizon. Its new 7100T pro-sumer device, which looks more like a phone than a Blackberry, is a positive step and an important strategic foray. For corporate executives who want mobile e-mail, the Blackberry will remain the device of choice. For the rest of us (who have to pay for wireless service each month), the 7100T will be an intriguing choice because it's a phone that also happens to deliver e-mail capability. Instead of people worrying about RIM being caught, perhaps they should be more concern that RIM is hot on the heels of Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and LG.