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Similar systems are used in electricity distribution and natural gas pipelines.

Social Sharing CRTC considering whether big telcos should be required to lease access to their networks to new competitors Don Pittis CBC News Posted: Mar 16, 2021 4:00 AM ET Last Updated: March 16 Canadians pay high prices for use of their cellphones.

There was plenty of concern expressed yesterday that Rogerss proposed purchase of Shaw would result in less competition and potentially even higher prices down the line.

ShutterstockKieferPix) comments Before the days of COVID-19 vaccine delays, there were few things Canadians liked to complain about more than the high cost of their cellphone service.

As two Canadian telecom giants attempt a merger a 26-billion deal to join Rogers with Shaw on the face of it, consumers might appear to be the potential victims.

Analysis Why Alberta politicians hope a takeover bid of Calgarys Shaw will be an economic win The countrys fourth largest telecom service provider, Shaw, with its cut-price phone service Freedom Mobile, would be swallowed up to make what would be the countrys second largest telecom giant after Bell and ahead of Telus.

But its also possible the new merger may help push regulators to impose new rules on the Big Three, forcing them to allow smaller, cheaper cellphone service providers to use their lines and towers the way its done south of the border.

Rapid technological change Ever since Alexander Graham Bell developed the acoustic telegraph in Brantford, Ont., in the 1870s, telecommunications policy has been a see-saw battle between the power of monopoly and governments trying to limit that power in the context of rapid technological change.

And it seems inevitable, like some kind of Canadian telecom groundhog day, that if the merger makes the new company more powerful and profitable, some will argue it must also result in new changes to the way phone companies operate in Canada.

WATCH A look at the proposed deal: Rogers signs deal to buy Shaw in transaction valued at 26B CBC News 4 days ago 2:44 Rogers Communications has signed a deal to buy Shaw Communications in a transaction valued at 26 billion, including debt.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2022, pending regulatory and shareholder approval.

A relatively sparse statement from Franois-Philippe Champagne, Canadas minister of innovation, science and industry, seems to imply that could happen.

Despite the lack of success by successive governments, Champagne made clear the current government has not given up on more affordable phone service for Canadians.

That means part of any new deal to allow the merger could involve the government requiring that the big providers allow mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to lease access to their cellphone networks an idea the telecom giants dislike.

We have been clear that greater affordability, competition, and innovation in the Canadian telecommunications sector are as important to us as the government as they are to Canadians concerned about their cellphone bills, Champagne said in a tweet yesterday.

These goals will be front and centre in analyzing the implications of todays news.

According to some people who watch the industry closely, the Rogers-Shaw tie-up could become much more palatable to consumers if it was clear an MVNO system would be introduced to allow comparatively small operators to piggyback on cell tower networks the way they do in the U.S., and as smaller internet providers already do on the giants landlines.

A system used in the United States that helps increase competition and keep wireless prices down involves allowing smaller service providers to buy wholesale access to the cellphone networks owned by larger companies.

Mike BlakeReuters) Under Canadian telecommunications law which, among other things, blocks foreign competition the providers and government regulators have a history of being joined at the hip.

When Bell Canada was largely a monopoly, the company had to apply to the government for rate increases to prevent it from doing what monopolies traditionally did provide shareholders excessive profits.

As a regulated monopoly, Bell had to show the money it earned was not all just going to shareholders, but was being invested in Canadian technology and services, something that helped make the company, now BCE, one of the most advanced telecom providers in the world.

Since the days of Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, shown here on a screen at a 2015 BCE event, governments have tried to rein in telecoms natural monopoly power.

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Fred ThornhillReuters) Andy Kaplan-Myrth, vice-president of regulation at TekSavvy, a company that provides internet service in many parts of Canada using the big telcos own wires, said that while he doesnt like to see more mergers, this one could give new impetus to companies that operate like his to try to crack the cellphone service market.

My first thought is, of course they are doing this, Kaplan-Myrth said shortly after the proposed deal was announced.

The entire momentum of big telecom in this country is toward fewer competitors.

And while Canadian governments have long spoken out in favour of more competition, agencies such as the Competition Bureau and the CRTC havent stopped the consolidation in the industry, whether that was Rogers buying Fido; Shaw buying Wind; or Bell buying Manitoba Telecom Services.

Telus CEO Darren Entwistle, seen here at an event in 2014, said last year if the CRTC imposed mobile virtual network operators on Telus, the company would cut thousands of jobs and 1 billion in investment.

Ben NelmsReuters) Kaplan-Myrth says if this deal goes through, there could be further mergers ahead, proving the point that the government needs a different approach to trying to hold mobile prices down whats known as service layer competition.

Thats the way home internet service providers like TekSavvy, Primus, Eastlink and many others earn their money.