Wind backs off targeting Rogers
Last Updated: Friday, July 16, 2010 | 5:57 PM ET
By Peter Nowak, CBC News
Wind Mobile has backed off targeting Rogers with a promotion that seeks to lure its customers specifically, with Bell and Telus now included in the deal.
The upstart wireless carrier on Thursday announced a promotion that offered Rogers customers — including those on its Fido and yet-to-be-launched Chatr brands — a $150 credit for taking their business to Wind. The deal, a continuation of a promotion previously aimed at all three major carriers, is intended to alleviate the early termination fees some customers face when cancelling their existing contracts.
On Friday, Wind applied the offer to customers of all carriers. Scott Campbell, chief marketing officer for Wind, said the deal was expanded because customers asked for it.
"Yes, the offer was in the spirit of competition and is for all of Rogers' customers, no matter which of the myriad of Rogers' brands they come from," he said. "But Wind is about listening to customers and customers of other carriers told us they were interested, so we'll honour their requests, too."
Rogers is launching its new Chatr brand at some point this summer to compete with new carriers that are offering unlimited services, including Wind, Mobilicity and Public Mobile.
Amit Kaminer, an analyst for The SeaBoard Group telecommunications consultancy, had said Wind's initial move against Rogers was a counter to Chatr.
"From a marketing perspective, it aims to bind the three Rogers brands together such that consumers are made aware that all three names are radiating from the same wireless tower," he said.
Rumours emerged this week, however, that Bell may also be planning to offer low-cost unlimited services through its Solo brand, and if that happens, Telus could be forced to follow suit.
Mobilicity chairman John Bitove has harshly criticized Rogers' Chatr plan and said he intends to file a complaint with the Competition Bureau if the brand's launch goes ahead. Bitove has said the Competition Act expressly prohibits the launch of flanker brands that are designed to undermine competitors.
Public Mobile said Rogers will only end up hurting itself in the long run by starting up another discount brand.
"Rogers can't afford to start re-pricing their existing customers," said spokesperson Lisa Pappas. "By launching Chatr, Rogers has created risk for themselves, and benefited us by legitimizing the market segment we are focused on."
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