I was hearing a talking had from Telus on how awful this was. I agree, people out of spite will switch carriers, even if it is more expensive, because of the treatment they got out of Telus. I know I am one of them. I am happy with speakout this year though!

As I understand it, the financial backing of the loans for Globalive Wireless Management Corporation is from an Egyptian source. The debt of a little more than $500 million is thus held by that source. The company is however Canadian held for the majority. The debt holding is what concerned the CRTC.

I would become a WIND client if I lived in a "WIND Home Zone", but living outside of one, I would be paying $0.25/min for all calls outside of that in the roaming area carried by the Rogers network GSM system. All roaming calls do include all Canadian long distance in the $0.25/min rate. WIND phones and Home Zones are AWS/GSM QUAD band, which is an aspect of the new spectrum availability that includes 1700 and 2100 Mhz frequencies. It is not clear at this time if the phones they sell are locked or not, or if they can be unlocked. US and international roaming information is pending, but is stated to be offered at a competitive rate as well.

If a person lives, works, and mostly plays within a "WIND Home Zone", and uses more than 50-60 minutes a month of airtime, the best choice may in fact be WIND. http://www.windmobile.ca

Hang on. Wind Mobile is currently an awful deal for budget users. Here's why:

1. You have to buy one of their handsets because they don't sell SIM cards separately. That means you'll pay at least $130 just to get service.

2. Wind Mobile has a very limited local calling area. Step outside the boundaries, and you're going to end up paying 25 cents/minute to Rogers.

3. Voice mail costs an extra $5.00 per month.

4. There's no low cost data plan. It's $35 or nothing.

If you use less than 50 minutes per month, SpeakOut is still the best bet in Canada.