Canada needs an independent wireless carrier: Lacavera

As Canada’s wireless communications sector consolidates, Globalive Capital Chairman Anthony Lacavera said the country needs an independent carrier amid a fresh push to acquire unused wireless spectrum in Manitoba.

Globalive announced its plan to re-enter the wireless market Monday through an offer to purchase spectrum licenses from Manitoba-based Xplore Mobile, which ceased operations in August 2022. 

“Every [other] G-20 country’s got an independent wireless company,” Lacavera said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg on Monday. 

“Independent means a wireless carrier that is not owned by a cable or phone company because as soon as the cable or phone company has a wireless company, they have conflicts. They want to maintain their legacy cable and their legacy wireline telephone business and so they never compete aggressively in wireless.”