Mobilicity accuses Rogers of launching temporary 'fighting' brand

According to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, the chairman of new low-cost Canadian wireless company Mobilicity, John Bitove, called reporters to his office on Friday to tell them he is threatening to report rival operator Rogers Communications to the Competition Bureau, or launch legal action directly. In response to the recent launches of several new wireless operators in Canada, last week Rogers confirmed it is launching a discount brand of its own, Chatr Wireless, aimed squarely at the new entrants’ targeted demographic of low-end budget conscious users. Bitove says Rogers is trying to destroy his company, and that Rogers’ new brand and its low pricing plans are an abuse of power that breaks a stipulation of the Competition Act prohibiting temporary ‘fighting’ brands. Rogers has hit back, with John Boynton, the company’s executive vice-president and head of marketing, stating: ‘What all those [new entrants] said was that all this competition would be good for the consumer. [The Mobilicity response] seems to be all about this company and not about customers.’