Verizon is offering $700 million for Wind Mobile, a small Canadian carrier, according to a report from Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail. The report also states that Verizon has started talks with Mobilicity, another minor player in the Canadian market.
Verizon declined to comment on the news.
Verizon, like AT&T, has been looking for areas to grow, as the U.S. market becomes saturated. Verizon CFO, Fran Shammo, had previously made comments that the carrier was looking to enter the Canadian market, but he cautioned that regulatory matters could complicate such a move.
According to the Globe and Mail, which cites people familiar with the matter, Verizon has also been mulling participation in Canada’s upcoming spectrum auctions.
By entering Canada, Verizon would be going up against the country’s three biggest carriers–Telus, Rogers Communications, and BCE–which together control about 90 percent of Canada’s wireless market.
Toronto-based Wind Mobile has over 600,000 subscribers. VimpelCom owns 65% of Wind.
Today’s report comes after Bloomberg last week reported that Verizon was eyeing Wind Mobile after the Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis moved to block Telus’s purchase of Mobilicity.
Shares of Verizon were up slightly to $50.64 in early trading Wednesday.
Filed Under: Carriers
