Look out, WIND: Mobilicity next fresh carrier to launch in Canada
By Chris Ziegler 
posted February 2nd 2010 6:14PM
posted February 2nd 2010 6:14PM
The carrier formerly known as DAVE Wireless -- one of the big winners in Canada's AWS auction a year and a half ago -- has adopted an official, consumer-friendly name on its way to availability later this year: Mobilicity, which is apparently supposed to evoke "the mobile carrier's focus on simplicity for city-based customers." They've also announced that the first market to go live will be Toronto in Spring followed by Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa later in the year, closely mirroring the strategy being employed by its nearest rival, WIND, which just launched recently in the same spectrum. Both operators face an uphill battle against the well-entrenched big boys -- Rogers, Bell, and Telus -- but it'll be a fun fight to watch, won't it?
zOMG Comments are back?? Or is this a fluke? I wanted to comment on the N1 Multitouch Update post!
@Johnny Rockets
ya that was the lamest thing ever. r we back in preschool now or what? everyone better behave or theyre gonna turn the lights off next and make u take a nap!
i can read the news anywhere. em doesnt even get it on their own. they just repost stories from other sites. the whole reason i come to this site is the community. idk if they even care but depending on how long it was off they were about to lose me as a reader. no comments defeated the whole reason why i use this site as opposed to just reading the news straight from the source.
@Johnny Rockets
Nah, comments are still out for any article that gets cross-posted on the "main" Engadget page. This one's an Engadget Mobile-only article.
@Cactus
ohhhhhhhhhhh
so its the morons on engadget proper that messed it up for all of us?
or they just didnt notice this crack in the system when they coded it lol
@Robbie Hottie
I'm sure they're fully aware of it... it makes sense that the Mobile and HD sub-sites, even with the cross-posting since the redesign, still keep a wee bit of independence, no? The posts that stay off the main site are usually relatively quiet...
and, well, since this one's all Canadian-centred, we ought to be ok till someone mentions hockey. (oh, oops...)
I thought WIND would revolutionize the market, till it turned out to more or less be Canada's MetroPCS of sorts. Looks like this will go after the same market.
Still, whatever shakes things up, eh? I expected at least one of the Big 3 would use their discounted brands (Virgin, Fido, Koodo) to crush these new players by now. I think they may just be waiting for Videotron to make their first move (coming this summer, supposedly)
Only the big three can provide true coverage coast to coast in Canada. These new comers need huge and I mean huge budgets to be able to lay down the infrastructure, it will take years.
@Shlooky
Of course -- Bell was able to light up HSPA so quickly because the towers, the backbone, etc are already there. But what I wonder is -- how far along with WIND, Mobilicity and Videotron have to be before one of the big 3 lays down the pricing gauntlet? How long will they continue to pick the Canadian consumer's pockets?
They're sitting ducks at the moment, but if churn starts to pile up, I expect something drastic to happen eventually -- like Bell matching their pricing through the Virgin brand to stop their growth. The Big 3 can ignore them right now because their coverage maps are microscopic... but I just wonder when they'll realize the 3-year-contract, monthly extortion jig is up.
I expect Videotron will come on-line with a much larger coverage map than what we've seen from the other newcomers, since they've been sitting pretty as a Rogers MVNO while they've been building up. Coupled with their well-known brand and already-established retail outlets, the wireless revolution may start in Quebec.
Meanwhile, Shaw dropped $200M on spectrum and apparently decided to sit on it. Shame.
We need more options.
I love competitive markets. now lets see prices drop. big three( rogers bell and telus) - you are ABSOLETE
Still a lot more to do in terms of consumer freedom. No contracts are getting more popular with smaller companies and subsidiaries entering the market.
The Idea of unlocked phones still have to gain popularity. The business model of Nexus 1 is amazing. This same model has given consumers in asia the freedom of choice of their phone and service provider.