Telecom stocks surge in after Verizon says it’s no longer interested in Canada

TORONTO – Shares in Canada’s big three telecom companies are surging on news that U.S. giant Verizon said it’s no longer interested in entering Canada’s wireless market.

Stock in Rogers (TSX:RCI.B) soared the most in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, up 10.3 per cent, or $4.28, to $45.87.

Telus (TSX:T) bounced up 6.4 per cent, or $2.17, to $34.86, while BCE (TSX:BCE) was up 5.6 per cent, or $2.41, at $45.60.

Rogers, Telus and Bell say they’ve had a cumulative loss of $14.7 billion on the capital markets since the news broke in June that Verizon was considering entering Canada.

But with Verizon no longer interested in moving north, it leaves the federal Conservatives with no obvious source of serious competition to the existing big three players.

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said on the weekend that speculation that his company might try to compete in Canada was “way overblown.” His remarks came after Verizon announced it was spending US$130 billion to buy out a big stake held in the company by U.K.-based Vodafone.