Senior executives from Canada’s big three mobile operators – BCE, Rogers and Telus – have held private talks with the government to discuss the market-entry threat posed by US firms, such as Verizon, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Canadian industry minister James Moore, according to Bloomberg sources, had asked to get the views of the country’s major mobile network operators in person.

BCE, in a 25 July statement, said the government’s decision to block Canada’s largest players from buying smaller domestic competitors – which prompted share price falls for the big three – would allow Verizon to acquire those businesses at “cut-rate prices”.

There are also worries that players such as Verizon might unfairly benefit from a government decision to reserve airwaves for new entrants, as well as rules that force incumbents to oper their networks for use by competitors.

Verizon has been circling smaller players in Canada’s mobile market for some time, encouraged by a change in regulation. Last year, to bolster its attempt to create a viable fourth nationwide operator, Canada’s government ruled that telecom carriers could have full foreign ownership if they had less than a 10 per cent market share.

According to figures from GSMA Intelligence, Rogers, BCE and Telus – combined – hold around 88 per cent of Canada’s mobile market.