Virgin Mobile Canada is finally launching its much-hyped wireless service but you have to believe entrepreneur Richard Branson will find it a novelty to perform his promotiional magic in a foot of snow. Welcome to the Great White North, Mr Branson!
It appears the battle for pre-paid customers, which has been almost non-existent in Canada as carriers focus on ARPU, has already kicked off, and the first one out of the gate is none other than Virgin's Canada partner, Bell Canada. For whatever reason, Bell has slashed prices on its pre-paid calls by more than 80% after the first minute. Perhaps Bell figures if anyone is going to make the first move against Virgin, it might has been someone with a 50% stake in the new venture.
At last week's RBC Capital Marketing conferene in Banuff, Telus Mobility CEO George Cope lamented Bell's decision. Then again, there were no CEOs talking about lower prices for consumers. In fact, the general tone was higher prices were inevitable and justified given the large investments everyone has made in their operations. It didn't sound much like competition to me.