Wind Mobile is now worthless (on paper, at any rate)

Wind Mobile, the upstart telco that tried to lure wireless customers with low prices and easy subscription terms, is now worth precisely nothing—at least, according to the latest financial statements of its parent company.

According to the Post, Amsterdam-based VimpelCom, which owns a majority stake in Wind, has written the company’s value down to zero. While this doesn’t mean an immediate end to Wind, it does signal serious pessimism about the wireless company’s future. VimpelCom pulled out of a spectrum auction in January, after its bid to take formal control over Wind was stymied by federal foreign-investment rules. The firm has made no secret of the fact that it wants to leave the Canadian market, but currently the pool of buyers for a company like Wind is very small. It’s expected that Ottawa would prevent the sale of Wind to any of the big-three wireless companies (Telus, Bell, and Rogers), meaning the buyer would probably have to be a domestic investor, or a U.S. telecom.

Wind remains under the control of its Canadian chief executive, Anthony Lacavera, who tells the Post he believes his company’s operations will be “business as usual” for the foreseeable future.