Shaw Communications to Purchase Wind Mobile Dylan Duarte December 17, 2015 News There’s about to be a pretty big shake up in the Canadian telecom industry as Shaw Communications is set to purchase wireless carrier Wind Mobile for around 1.6 billion dollars CAD. Shaw is known for their fiber, cable, and Wi-Fi services, and now they can add wireless to that list. Wind has approximately 940,000 customers across Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. Before the acquisition can go through, it will need to be approved by Industry Canada and the Competition Bureau. However, since Shaw Communications doesn’t currently own any notable wireless assets, the deal is expected to go through without a hitch in the first half of 2016. Shaw actually picked up part of AWS-1 spectrum during a 2008 auction, but ended up selling it to Rogers for $350 million. Coincidentally, Rogers acquired Mobilicity earlier this year. Wind’s executive team will remain onboard to run what is now Shaw’s wireless division. Wind CEO Alek Krstajic was also involved in Telus’ 2013 acquisition of Public Mobile. Analysts seem to think that Shaw’s entry into the wireless arena will only benefit customers, because it turns the big three – Rogers, Telus, and Bell – into the big four, and the added competition from such a major player will result in each company offering better deals to lure in customers. As of this writing, Wind is the fourth largest wireless provider in Canada, but with Shaw’s big guns now behind it, it’ll be interesting to see how far and fast they can climb. Share This With The World!
