Oct 26, 2022
By Jane Brown
A merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications is on hold until certain conditions are met.
Tuesday evening, the federal industry minister announced he is blocking the $26-billion proposed merger of the two telecom giants.
Francois-Philippe Champagne explained his reasoning for denying the request at this time, saying the merger would have included the transfer of wireless spectrum licenses from Shaw to Rogers.
Shaw’s sale of Freedom Mobile is widely considered the main obstacle to the deal’s approval.
Videotron has agreed to buy it, but Champagne wants Videotron to keep the Freedom wireless licences for at least 10 years, and he has one more condition.
“I would expect to see prices for wireless services in Ontario and western Canada comparable to what Videotron is offering in Quebec, which are today on average 20-percent lower than in the rest of Canada,” Champagne explained.
Champagne says mediation efforts will resume in the hopes of reaching a revised and more appropriate deal.
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