Wireless Soapbox: Share your ideas and suggestions about cellphone carriers

Heck, looking at my cellphone bill, sometimes I feel like going to India. There people don't take land lines 'cos it is more expensive and hassel than getting a SIM card. And the talk-rate is dirt-cheap. in fact so cheap that my friends use their cellphone for high-speed internet. And look at us here. We can barely make ends meet under this broke-back economy. On top of that Rrogers and Bell are eating our groceries; sometimes in different disguises (Fido, TV, Home-Phone etc.). I am paying $10 every month to Fido prepaid, and holding my breath till some good cellphone carrier with good talk-rates comes up.

Post your cellphone carrier related suggestions/tips here: http://www.wirelesssoapbox.com/ideas

Canadians have a lot to say about wireless. And, cellular providers have a lot to learn.

When Globalive was announced as a provisional winner in Industry Canada’s Advanced Wireless Services Auction, we knew we had a lot of hard work in front of us in developing our wireless business model.

Sure, we could recreate a model that’s been done before, using the same formula, offering the same services and contracts and making the same promises. In essence, making us just another phone company – exactly what we think Canadians are NOT looking for.

There’s a reason we had in auction in this country. Our prices are too high, penetration is too low and services are lagging behind all developed nations. Canadians pay an average of 60% more for mobile wireless services than Americans. Canadians are losing out on high-tech mobile services. Only 58% of Canadians have a wireless device, compared to the United States at 77% and other industrialized countries, such as the UK and Hong Kong, where the number is over 100%.

Most importantly, Canadians lacked choice.

It’s about time a company did a lot less “telling” and a lot more “listening,” which is why we launched WirelessSoapbox.com. It’s designed to be a place that gives Canadians the opportunity to sound off about their cell phone experience, sharing thoughts and comments and putting forward new ideas. It’s about starting a dialogue with people who care about wireless in this country and are invested in making sure the next provider gets it right!

We’re asking everyone with an opinion on wireless to get up on our ‘Wireless Soapbox’ and we plan to use that cross-country intelligence to build a smarter and more informed new Canadian wireless company.

We want to hear from a wide range of Canadians on everything from ‘what their ideal cell phone plan looks like’ to their ‘biggest pet peeve about their monthly cell phone bill’.

Very importantly, we want to hear from tech-savvy armchair engineers who are interested in sharing their advice on network architecture and design, and wireless suppliers and vendors.

The future we’re helping to create for wireless in Canada is comparable to the development of many software companies who have engaged consumer input to help build their platforms.

This is the framework for WirelessSoapbox.com. We hope you’ll get involved.