Early next week, DAVE Wireless will officially reveal its new brand. While the name remains up in the air, we do know that it will not be DAVE Wireless, Mobile, or any other iteration of that male moniker.

At 11 a.m. on February 2, 2010, DAVE executives will disclose the new name, logo, and tagline for the brand; along with, presumably, details on when the services will be up and running.

DAVE has been relatively mum about its plans, other than noting that it will offer voice and data services plus a selection of smartphones, and operate in most of the major markets across Canada, plus other areas via roaming agreements. Company President Dave Dobbin has confirmed with Marketnews in the past that services would be up and running by early 2010. In December of last year, the company began a marketing campaign that revealed nothing about the service, but urged consumers not to lock into their contracts with the teaser: "competition is coming".

Like WIND Mobile, which is already up and running in Toronto, ON and Calgary, AB; and Public Mobile, the third "main" new wireless carrier set to launch this year, DAVE is promising to offer customers price plans that are more attractive then what's being offered today. "Like contracts?" muses one of DAVE's ads. "Go to law school."

Of the three new wireless carriers, DAVE has arguably been the most low-key and least controversy-ridden. WIND Mobile, owned by Globalive Wireless but financially backed by Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris, has just surfaced from a public review of its ownership structure, a ruling that blocked it from entering Canada, and a subsequent overturning of that decision by the Industry Minister. Meanwhile, Public Mobile has now been put under a similar microscope by the CRTC due to the addition of OMERS Private Equity, the private equity arm of the OMERS Worldwide group of companies, to its investor list. Even though Public Mobile has a slew of Canadian investors, including Peter Thomson of Thomvest Seed Capital Inc., Fred Eaton and Patrick Brigham, OMERs forked over a hefty amount: $50 million. Adding further controversy, Public Mobile applied to the Federal Court of Canada earlier this month asking it to overturn the decision to allow WIND Mobile to operate. (Yes, this same decision that itself is characterized by overturning a previous decision.) Phew!

"...While we respect the Government's authority, we believe what it has done amounts to a change in law, and only Parliament can change Canadian law," said Alek Krstajic, CEO of Public Mobile, at the time of the filing.

Nevertheless, Public Mobile will be playing a different ball game than WIND and DAVE anyway, targeting basic talk and text customers in under-served markets. While its services are not yet up and running, Public has confirmed that it will offer flat-rate $40 unlimited talk and text plans.
As for DAVE, the company remains poised to launch early in the year, and will give WIND, not to mention the existing carriers, Bell, Roger, and Telus, a run for their money.

"We're coming, with plans to launch in every major metropolitan area that WIND is launching in," Dobbin told me back in late November.

Stay tuned for the official announcement next Tuesday; and look out for the February 2010 issue of Marketnews Magazine, which will feature in-depth analysis of the wireless landscape today, and interviews with all three new carriers and other influential industry members.

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