http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/02/celltower.jpg

I can closely relate to this topic as I have chosen Wind Mobile because they offer unlimited everything at half the cost of Fido. However, a “point of parity” that Fido has is that their reception strength is strong and a “point of differentiation” is free Canada-wide texting.

In response to the co-funder of the Telecom and Technology Consulting Group, Brahm Eiley, who remarked that “If their prices don’t come up, then they’re dead,” I have to disagree. Foreign wireless companies, such as Wind, have increased their original unlimited data plan from $30 to $40. A possible explanation for such low prices is to get phone users to convert. This decision may be a part of a strategy implemented by the “operations” department of a company. I, along with many of my classmates who have switched to Wind, believe that the small inconvenience of not being able to call on the skytrain and in concrete surrounded areas, is an opportunity cost that we don’t mind to endure. I can foresee that once users have converted, increasing plan prices will be the next step in gaining even more profit and market share.

Since a normal phone contract by any major phone company is usually 3 years, foreign wireless companies may have a greater impact on the market in the long term, but as of now, I have to agree that leading phone companies still have significantly greater “supplier power”and companies like Wind Mobile are not a major “threat of substitute.”

Response to Annabelle Chen’s Blog @ https://blogs.ubc.ca/annabellechen/