Competition between Canada’s three big cellphone providers during Christmases past has always been ferocious, but the spirit of the season this year is becoming downright ugly.

Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. have entangled themselves in a web of lawsuits and countersuits in recent weeks over which company possesses the “best” or “most reliable” wireless network in the land.

Considering what is at stake, though, the legal actions may be warranted.

Yesterday, Rogers, the country’s largest wireless provider by number of subscribers, sued BCE’s Bell Mobility in a B.C. court over its claim to own the “largest, fastest and most-reliable” cellphone network in Canada, seeking an immediate injunction on the rival’s current ad campaign.

“We’re filing that [Bell’s ads] are false and misleading,” said John Boynton, executive vice-president of marketing at Rogers. The ads, which boast that “Being with Bell just got better,” trumpet the company’s newly installed network technology, called HSPA, or high-speed packet access.

The acrimonious legal wrangling over whose advertisements can say what comes just ahead of the most important holiday selling season all three have faced in years.

A third of all new wireless subscribers are signed up in the final quarter of the year, says Scotia Capital equity analyst Jeff Fan, meaning millions in recurring revenues are at stake.

The court battles also underscore each carrier’s efforts to deprive the others of any marketing advantage as the fight for subscribers intensifies ahead of the arrival of new entrants early next year who will immediately challenge the carriers’ for market share.

The legal fallout is doubly important for Rogers, which has grown to be the biggest wireless provider in Canada on the strength of highly visible ads touting a superior network and handset offering, which until last month included an exclusive hold over lucrative, Web-equipped devices such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

“For the first time, you have three networks that are essentially similar in terms of network technology and handset selection,” Mr. Fan said.

Indeed, analysts say the new HSPA gear puts the performance of Bell’s network on the same level with Rogers, theoretically delivering voice and data services at the same speed and level of reliability — or number of dropped calls.

However, Bell maintains that third-party testing on the newer network reveals that it holds an advantage.

It is a claim Rogers vigorously denies. “The testing that Bell did was done before they even had real customers on it,” Mr. Boynton said. The results were taken “on an empty network.”

The action comes as Rogers itself is fighting Telus over making virtually identical claims. Last week, in a victory for Telus, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that Rogers, which for years has made reliability and speed core tenets of its branding, must tear down its own ads. Yesterday, Toronto-based Rogers announced it was appealing the B.C. court decision.

Vancouver-based Telus, the third-largest wireless providers, sued Rogers last month over the claims after Telus equipped its network with HSPA at the same time Bell did through a year-long multi-billion dollar joint upgrade.

“It’s ironic they would try to press one of their competitors on similar claims given the level of misinformation in Rogers’ advertising,” said Shawn Hall, a spokesman for Telus.

Yet even there, tensions are rising between the No. 2 and No. 3 phone firms.

Mr. Hall said yesterday Telus’s lawyers were considering whether to launch its own suit against Bell over the reliability claims.

Bell is saying only that it stands behind its advertising and intends to defend itself in court.

Today, Rogers will defend its marketing in an appeal hearing. “We’re going to stand by our claim and challenge the numbers and assumptions” of Telus,

Mr. Boynton said.

Yet Rogers’ ads must still be off the air by tomorrow.

Financial Post

jasturgeon@nationalpost.com