Is Telus involved in price fixing?

[mpa]

Hmm.... very odd that all wireless providers raise prices at the same time. 

http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/wireless-carriers-hike-prices-across-canada

We need some real competition.  Either more providers or someone with some ethics in charge at Telus.   Id be ashamed to be connected to these people in any way. 

[nasty · Accepted solution]

Colution is the shiv in the customers back.

People would still like to see that Government official, whom mandated 2 year plans, being made to pay for his ignorance of how subsidized cell-phones can't have low monthly prices on 2 year plans.

Maybe one of the big 3 will blink and put in a 'pay $200 down for that $600 cell phone', 2 year plan. That would come with a lower monthly price.

But very doubtful.

[xl · Accepted solution]

And many blame Apple for the mess....

A lot of this started way back with the iPhone 3.  The iPhone3 came with pathetic batteries that would die after 12-18 months.  Too short for a 3yr contract.  Instead of demanding Apple make better batteries, the market demanded short contracts that were more expensive.

[tsizzle · Accepted solution]

I would suggest you read this newly published article (see link below), the CBC article had a lot of incorrect information in terms of the timing of events:

http://mobilesyrup.com/2014/03/19/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-700mhz-auction-videotrons-wa...

Short answer, they are not involved in price fixing, competitors changing their prices quickly after another is considered competition. Would you expect a gas station to let the place across the street cut prices and undercut them for a week without adjusting thier prices?

[mpa · Accepted solution]

tsizzle, thanks for the good laugh.  Always nice to know when people are drinking the company koolaid.

You use the argument that if a gas station lowers its prices, than competitors near by would be smart to follow, and that this is good for competition.   I would agree with you on this point.  However; your point is moot to this situation.  Telus and their partners RAISED PRICES!!!!!     In a good competitive market, there would be someone that held out or lowered their price to attract more customers, then competition wins.   With telcoms you all see one raise prices, then figure you can all raise too since there is no competition that will undercut you.  (most likely already know in advance)

Nice to learn from the article that Telus lead the way in higher prices.  Thanks Telus.   And no matter how you try to spin things.  When your plans go from $75 to $80  that is raising prices not cutting.  Nice spin though.  LOL

[nasty · Accepted solution]

Colution is the shiv in the customers back.

People would still like to see that Government official, whom mandated 2 year plans, being made to pay for his ignorance of how subsidized cell-phones can't have low monthly prices on 2 year plans.

Maybe one of the big 3 will blink and put in a 'pay $200 down for that $600 cell phone', 2 year plan. That would come with a lower monthly price.

But very doubtful.

[xl · Accepted solution]

And many blame Apple for the mess....

A lot of this started way back with the iPhone 3.  The iPhone3 came with pathetic batteries that would die after 12-18 months.  Too short for a 3yr contract.  Instead of demanding Apple make better batteries, the market demanded short contracts that were more expensive.

[tsizzle · Accepted solution]

I would suggest you read this newly published article (see link below), the CBC article had a lot of incorrect information in terms of the timing of events:

http://mobilesyrup.com/2014/03/19/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-700mhz-auction-videotrons-wa...

Short answer, they are not involved in price fixing, competitors changing their prices quickly after another is considered competition. Would you expect a gas station to let the place across the street cut prices and undercut them for a week without adjusting thier prices?

[mpa · Accepted solution]

tsizzle, thanks for the good laugh.  Always nice to know when people are drinking the company koolaid.

You use the argument that if a gas station lowers its prices, than competitors near by would be smart to follow, and that this is good for competition.   I would agree with you on this point.  However; your point is moot to this situation.  Telus and their partners RAISED PRICES!!!!!     In a good competitive market, there would be someone that held out or lowered their price to attract more customers, then competition wins.   With telcoms you all see one raise prices, then figure you can all raise too since there is no competition that will undercut you.  (most likely already know in advance)

Nice to learn from the article that Telus lead the way in higher prices.  Thanks Telus.   And no matter how you try to spin things.  When your plans go from $75 to $80  that is raising prices not cutting.  Nice spin though.  LOL

[tsizzle]

Have you been following the Oil & Gas market for the last few decades? Have you noticed prices drop consistently every week? Didn't think so. A little lateral thinking would help you recognise that this pricing relationship works both upwards and downwards, like the telecommunicaitons industry, it is subject to market forces and when they change, so can prices.

You clearly missed this piece at the bottom of the article which explains why TELUS (a business with shareholders) is raising prices to maintain their profitability & growth:

 "There is still plenty of room for growth in the wireless market, but the vast majority of that growth — revenue and profit — will come from data. Voice and SMS usage — and profitability — is quickly shrinking, so don’t expect carriers to let up on data prices when it’s their sole source of butter for an ever-shrinking loaf of bread."

You may not like that they've raised prices but that doesn't mean they're colluding, it simply means they recognized there is an opportunity to increase prices and achieve higher profits and took it. There's an important concept I think you should familiarize yourself with, a price war, its something companies try & avoid like the plague:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_war 

[mpa]

"they recognized there is an opportunity to increase prices and achieve higher profits and took it"

-the opportunity exists because there is NO COMPETITION!!!!!

"a price war, its something companies try & avoid like the plague"

-again, easily avoided when there is NO COMPETITION and all their partners are on the same page. 

I understand why they are doing it.  But the ability to do it shouldnt be so easy, and there should be alternate choices for customers.  The hard part for me to understand is why people like you hate competition and a better market for consumers?   The only logical explanation is that you have something to gain.

[xl]

• Yes there is competition in Canada.  Telus is not the only service in Canada.
• yes there are price wars, I remember when data was $100 for 2mb, then it was $100 for 100mb.  Today $100 will give you multiple gigabytes
• there have been companies that tried to undercut larger companies, sadly their business model is not sustanable and are slowly going out of business (eg Wind & Mobilicity).  They advertise half truths and blind-side Canadian with roaming charges on their poor coverage.
• Telus is willing to provide service to rural locations that discount providers choose to ignore to keep their costs low.
• The discount providers promise you data, but not modern LTE speeds.  Instead you might get slower 2G speeds.

I don't like being mislead and ripped off.  Consumers are willing to pay more for quality service.

[NFtoBC]

Telus also has a responsibility to *ME* to keep my RRSP growing. As a publicly traded company, and responsible to their shareholders, they are obligated to make as much profit as they can by any reasonable and legal means. The balance comes if they price themselves out of the market. However it is pretty clear that companies with a quality product command top prices for it. Apple, Mercedes, Harley-Davidson, and many more come to mind as companies who provide quality products and customer service, and command top dollar for their products in a market which has many competitors. While these marques may not compete on price, they are definitely competing for the part of the market they want to own.