It's Official: Shaw Now Owns WIND

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It's Official: Shaw Now Owns WIND

Postby jon » Thu Mar 03, 2016 8:56 am

Shaw Closes Acquisition of WIND Mobile
2016-03-02
broadcastermagazine.com

Shaw Communications Inc. today confirms that it has closed its previously announced acquisition of Mid-Bowline Group Corp. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, WIND Mobile Corp., for an enterprise value of approximately $1.6 billion.

Chief Executive Officer, Brad Shaw said, "We know Canadians want options when it comes to their wireless provider and, in time, customers can expect to see integrated offerings that provide them with the best value for their dollar in quality of coverage and connectivity. We are excited about our growth prospects in mobile and welcome the WIND team of 1200 employees. With the transformative power of this transaction, Shaw will become a leading pure-play connectivity provider."

WIND is Canada's largest non-incumbent wireless services provider, serving approximately 940,000 subscribers across Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta with 50MHz of spectrum in each of these regions. Shaw will continue to invest in the wireless network and service offering, including the upgrade of its network to 4G LTE.

"With Shaw's long-term commitment, customer focus and breadth of product offering, we are better positioned to deliver better value and capability to WIND customers," said Alek Krstajic, Executive Vice President & President, WIND. "The strength of Shaw as a company and as a brand will provide Canadians with more choice and opportunities to stay connected."
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Re: It's Official: Shaw Now Owns WIND

Postby Coolcat » Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:11 am

I switched to Wind from Rogers recentrly because I was getting tired of their ever increasing nickel and diming and useless options for me when going to the US or overseas. I expected to see some degradation in quality and coverage but was amazed that it wasnt a big thing. Instead of three bars at home I get two and in the rare time I visit a tower the phone service is sporadic but so what Rogers cut in and out in a tower as well. And if you go into areas that are not part of the Wind network the phone roams on Rogers and with the amount I am saving the extra charges will never be more than the savings.

The amazing part is when I tested the same phone leaving a message on the same message service I got better quality on Wind than I was getting on Rogers. Now with Shaw involved I can see their service getting even better.
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Re: It's Official: Shaw Now Owns WIND

Postby tuned » Fri Mar 04, 2016 3:13 pm

I dumped Rogers years ago and have been happy with WIND. I don't share your optimism that things will get better with Shaw ownership. They need to get their 1.6 billion back so it's just a matter of time before they start screwing WIND customers just like they do for cable and internet. Media consolidation has been a complete disaster in Canada and the US. The news in controlled by a handful of large companies that push their corporate interests. In the US my friends are getting their political information from the likes of John Oliver. Shaw is as rotten an apple as Bell and Rogers.
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Re: It's Official: Shaw Now Owns WIND

Postby groundskeeper willy » Fri Mar 04, 2016 10:43 pm

Gotta second Tuned's pessimism regarding Shaw's takeover of Wind. After years of poor customer service and steadily increasing bills with Bell, I switched to Wind and was pleased with the service, rates and the quality of the network. I used to experience dropped calls all the time with Bell, something that's been non-existent with Wind. But I suspect everything I've come to appreciate with Wind will soon end.

First thing Shaw will do is bump up the current plan rates and most likely put limits on service (such as eliminating Canada-wide long distance, it'll become a separate billable line item). They'll probably put a limit on texting on most of their plans, and hard-cap the number of minutes you can use per month before hitting you with overages on voice service. Oh, and I wouldn't be surprised if they rolled out system access fees and a rider for "system improvements".

The main reason I chose Wind to begin with is that they were the only real choice if you didn't want to be shackled to Telus/Bell/Rogers and their grotesque business practices. Now that choice is gone, as Shaw is just as grotesque as the other three.

Is there any way we can convince Verizon to reconsider launching service in Canada? We need a service provider who won't rape the consumer as badly as Telus/Bell/Rogers (and soon to be Shaw) consistently does.
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Re: It's Official: Shaw Now Owns WIND

Postby PMC » Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:24 pm

`Chief Executive Officer, Brad Shaw said, "We know Canadians want options when it comes to their wireless provider and, in time, customers can expect to see integrated offerings that provide them with the best value for their dollar in quality of coverage and connectivity.'

Some writers and perhaps readers, are not aware of what is happening with the technology these days. The major players are in a `convergence' period where the phone and desktop are together. It is the connectivity being offered. Basicly if you own an Apple phone, buy an iPad, if Microsoft is your choice, then get a Nokia phone... Ubuntu has their phones, there is also Android, for both. There seems to be a market demand with other tech entries in play, as was pointed out in the message of using HD in Calgary for traffic purposes.
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Re: It's Official: Shaw Now Owns WIND

Postby Coolcat » Mon Mar 07, 2016 1:47 am

groundskeeper willy wrote:First thing Shaw will do is bump up the current plan rates and most likely put limits on service (such as eliminating Canada-wide long distance, it'll become a separate billable line item). They'll probably put a limit on texting on most of their plans, and hard-cap the number of minutes you can use per month before hitting you with overages on voice service. Oh, and I wouldn't be surprised if they rolled out system access fees and a rider for "system improvements".



Not necessarily. If Shaw were smart they would keep the Wind brand much like Rogers and Chatr and Telus and Koodo and maybe even Rogers and Fido and start a premium mobile service like Shaw mobile and ride that off of the Wind current network but expand some areas and get some additional spectrum to give better coverage inside buildings and then start bundling with their cable and home phone.

Makes a lot of sense but not sure if making sense is Shaw's forte. That said, I can see Wind getting better from the technical side.
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