Predatory pricing and foreclosure in Canadian telecommunications

Abstract

This article provides a historical perspective and current data on predatory pricing in the Canadian telecommunications industry. It is a rejoinder to another article in Telecommunications Policy, by Steven Globerman, which argued that tighter regulation of the Canadian telephone industry is unnecessary to prevent anticompetitive abuses in the industry. The author argues that predatory pricing has been an enduring feature of the industry, and precipitated the need for regulation in the first place. In the light of the evidence provided on activities and reorganization by the largest telephone company, it is argued that a high degree of deregulation has already taken place and regulators should contemplate means of reestablishing regulation.