Quebecor and Videotron welcome the Federal Court’s refusal to grant Telus’s motion for an interlocutory injunction to halt the award of 3500 MHz spectrum licences in Western Canada. 

 

The Court:  

• found that “Telus’s arguments are untenable and do not raise a serious issue” (paragraph 2); 
• rejected “Telus’s assertion that Videotron needed to have physical infrastructure in Western Canada to be eligible” (paragraph 2);
• recognized that “the decisive factor is the public interest in fostering greater competition in the market for mobile phone services” (paragraph 4);
• concluded that “the weakness of Telus’s case more than counterbalances any greater harm that Telus might be exposed to” (paragraph 97).

 
Quebecor and Videotron are disappointed by Telus’s relentless efforts to block at all costs the implementation of government policy to encourage the entry of a fourth player into Canada’s wireless market in order to create healthy competition where it does not exist and lower the prices Canadians pay for mobile services. 

 

The case now moves on to the merits. The arguments of Bell and Telus, members of the oligopoly, will be heard in a future court hearing.

 

The legal manoeuvring by Bell and Telus demonstrates, once again, that they cannot abide competition and the interests of Canadians are eclipsed by their financial objectives.