The regulator (CRTC) has exceptionally rigid, arbitrary, arcane, and convoluted rules which define who can and who can't own or operate exactly what in the vaguest terms possible. And that certain percentages of various levels of their organizations must be owned and operated by Canadian citizens, etc.
The last time these rules pushed for more "independent" brands they created Public Mobile and Chatr and Wind. Which were all permanently absorbed into the Big Three just a few years later when the CRTC "re-evaluated the market" and changed the rules again.
Those over-regulated rules and conditions were revised over and over again to restrict foreign competitors from entering the Canadian market. But now they sustain the Big Three oligopoly. We managed to keep AT&T and Verizon out of our "network built by Canadians for Canadians" ... but just compare Canadian vs American cellphone plans/prices to see what it cost Canadian consumers.
Stick with Public Mobile and in a few years you'll be collecting some decent Loyalty Rewards. Or rush over to Dotmobile and in a few years you might find yourself folded into an acquisition by Rogers or Shaw.
