A report by the Canadian government, once again, confirms that Canada pays some of the highest cell phone and internet rates in the developed world.
It’s no secret Canadians are paying some of the highest cell phone and internet rates in the developed world. Just ask any Canadian how they feel about their cell phone and internet bills and you will probably get a response somewhere along the lines of a disgusted “ugh!” For the most part, Canadians know they are getting ripped off, but are powerless to stop it because Canada has no real competition in the cell phone and internet sectors.
In 2021, a ReWheel study confirmed what Canadians already know: Canada does pay some of the highest internet and cell phone rates.
The study was brought into sharp focus when the Rogers Shaw merger attempt was going on. Industry apologists responded by saying that the study is flawed and can’t be treated seriously. Of course, anecdotal evidence across the country made it hard to believe anyone who dismiss what the study had to say. The problem is as obvious as water being wet.
Unfortunately, the study that confirmed what everyone knew is getting a little old now. So, it was interesting to find out that the Canadian government itself decided to conduct a study and find out if Canadian’s pay some of the cell phone and internet rates in the world. The results will not surprise you.
The study compared prices between Canada, the US, Australia, the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, and Japan. The study broke down wireless down into various levels for comparison:
- Level 1 (450 voice minutes and 300 SMS (texts): Third most expensive with only the US and Japan being more expensive
- Level 2 (1 GB of data usage per month (no talk or text): Japan was more expensive, but no plans displayed for any other country
- Level 3 (unlimited nationwide talk and text along with 2-4 GB of data): Third most expensive with only the US and Japan being more expensive
- Level 4 (unlimited nationwide talk and text along with 5-6 GB of data): Third most expensive with only the US and Japan being more expensive
- Level 5 (unlimited nationwide talk and text along with 7-9 GB of data): Third most expensive with only the US (just barely edged out) and Japan being more expensive
- Level 6 (unlimited nationwide talk and text along with 10-19 GB of data): Third most expensive with only the US and Japan being more expensive
- Level 7 (unlimited nationwide talk and text along with 20-49 GB of data): Third most expensive with only Germany and Japan being more expensive
- Level 8 (unlimited nationwide talk and text along with 50-99 GB of data): Second most expensive with only Japan being more expensive
The picture for broadband internet wasn’t any better:
- Level 1 (3-9 Mbps): Data largely incomplete, but less expensive than Japan
- Level 2 (10-15 Mbps): Data largely incomplete, but less expensive than Japan
- Level 3 (16-40 Mbps): Third most expensive with Australia and Japan being more expensive
- Level 4 (41-100Mbps): Most expensive in the world
- Level 5 (101-250 Mbps): Second most expensive with only Australia being more expensive
- Level 6 (251-500 Mbps): Most expensive in the world
- Level 7 (500 Mbps+): Most expensive in the world
In a number of cases, year over year, there are multiple other countries where the prices are falling faster than in Canada.
Of course, this falls back to the problem of lack of competition in Canada. Canada has largely lived under an effective triopoly for years. Every effort to bring in more competition has been stymied by the incumbent players. Whether this is lobbying the government to ensure regulations keep competition out of the country, swallowing up all of the wireless spectrum for every auction, or simply behaving in anti-competitive ways to drive small upstarts into bankruptcy. Canada’s anti-competitive laws and enforcement have pretty much failed Canadians already. With the merger moving ahead with few questions asked, the useless nature of competition enforcement will, once again, be brought into the foreground.
(Via @mgeist@masto.to)
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
