Consumers will have more choice as Canada’s wireless landscape heats up with new cellphone companies expected to offer more than price to charm them in or out of a contract.

For the first time in about a decade, new cellphone companies will be courting consumers in a bid to win business away from major competitors Rogers, Bell and Telus.

Globalive’s Wind Mobile bills itself as Canada’s fourth national carrier and is up and running in Toronto and Calgary and will launch next year in Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver.

New companies Dave Wireless, Public Mobile and Videotron will also launch in 2010.

“Big changes for cellphone competition in Canada,” read a recent tweet on social networking site Twitter, capturing the optimism of smartphone aficionados after the federal government ruled that Wind Mobile was Canadian owned, overturning a CRTC decision that had initially blocked its launch.

What Canadians should expect from this new competition is to get more value for their money, said analyst Carmi Levy.

The new players should mean plans that are friendlier to Canadians’ needs.

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