In a telecom decision handed down this week, the CRTC has approved the ownership structure of Public Mobile, a new Canadian wireless phone provider.

The decision means the company can continue with its plan to build a low cost wireless phone network offering $40 a month unlimited voice plans in Quebec and Ontario.

Public, which has already opened stores in Toronto and Montreal, is expected to launch service in those cities in Mid May. The longer term goal is to offer service in the Windsor to Quebec City corridor.

Right now, Public Mobile doesn't look too great with the old CDMA technology and little phone selection compared to WIND Mobile's AWS and the ability to use unlocked phones from various sources (not so many now but as WIND and T-Mobile grow, there will be more AWS phones), including the Blackberry 9700, etc.

I guess they suit their demographic well, for people that only need their phones for talking and texting and don't use smartphone applications or data, just want something simple it's good for them. But $40 doesn't include the extra $5 for voicemail and caller ID and unlimited Canadian long distance is only included for free for people that pre-register and sign up before their launch, whereas with WIND (and potentially Mobilicity when it launches), you get a wider selection of phones, coverage in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and more cities in the future, and for $45 unlimited talk and text with nationwide long distance and voicemail and caller ID included (plus data if you want it).

The thing Public does have going for it though is Quebec. Videotron bought out the spectrum in the auction for AWS so WIND Mobile and Mobilicity won't be coming to Quebec any time soon, but Public is launching in Montreal and plans to expand to the entire Quebec City-Windsor corridor in the long-term...so if you live in Quebec or travel there frequently, WIND and Mobilicity are out of the question.

Still nothing groundbreaking. When are we going to get unlimited everything for $50 like in the US?

Public intends on upgrading its network to LTE in the future. They have already laid the groundwork for that upgrade.

The problem, as far as I can see, is what is stopping the big 3 from undercutting them? If all they have is one plan, if one of the big 3 really wants to kill them then all they have to do is offer the same plan with a free phone for the same price or less. A 6 month promo from Virgin/Fido/Koodo of a free 2G phone on a 1-2 year term at $40/month unlimited talk and text right around the time Public launches might be enough to drive them into the ground.