Last month, the CRTC ruled that Globalive does not currently meet Canadian ownership rules and derailed Globalive’s plans to launch its WIND Mobile wireless carrier. Since then, WIND Mobile has been relatively quiet, only saying that it was exploring its options.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Jonathan Allen is now suggesting that Videotron could be Globalive’s saviour. This is not the first time that a partnership between these two companies has been suggested. But in this case, Videotron would offer up about CA$96 million’s worth of spectrum it bought in the last auction in the Toronto area to WIND Mobile in return for an ownership stake. This would help Globalive increase its Canadian ownership to address CRTC concerns. Videotron would gain a partner that does not have any presence in Quebec (its core market) and a roaming partner that could offer a cheaper agreement than what it has now with Rogers.
The idea certainly makes sense on paper but it remains to be seen if the two companies see it the same way…