Rogers Wireless, Canada’s largest mobile operator, has warned of slowing subscriber growth and lower mobile usage due to the current global economic crisis, reports Reuters. “You can start to see a slowing of traffic – both consumer and business traffic – and the roaming that goes along with that,” Rogers Wireless president Rob Bruce said at an investor conference this week. “Across the board, I think we can feel… a tightening in the economy and we think there’s going to be more ahead of us.” According to Reuters, Rogers Wireless first hinted at a slowdown in July when it reported that it has added just 92,000 new contract customers in the second quarter of the year, down from 133,000 a year earlier. Bruce said the operator is currently looking to reduce its cost base to deal with the slowdown.

Reuters reported earlier in the week that the financial crisis is also affecting the rollout plans of the new operators set to enter the Canadian market following the recent Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum auction in the country. “It’s a scary time to be looking for financing in any field, let alone telecommunications, especially when you’re looking at a multibillion-dollar price tag to build out your network,” Carmi Levy, an industry analyst at AR Communications, told Reuters. Another analyst, Greg MacDonald of National Bank Financial, estimated that Globalive – one of the biggest winners in the spectrum auction – needs to raise C$700 million (US$676 million) from outside sources to fund the building of its new network.