After months of uncertainty, the Canadian Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Industry last week confirmed Canadian MNO Rogers Communications’ proposed $16bn merger/acquisition of Shaw Communications. Initially proposed two years ago in March 2021, the deal to create a Canadian heavyweight of fixed-line and mobile converged services was contentious from the beginning, with dissenting voices proclaiming the steamrolling of consumer interests. The last of the three regulatory holdouts, Canada’s Competition’s Bureau, was defeated in an early January appeals court ruling. Final approval concerned the transfer of some of Shaw’s spectrum licenses as part of the sale of its 2m subscriber-strong Freedom Mobile business to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron, a condition imposed by regulators. Fixed-mobile convergence is also a major theme in other…