Canada's wireless costs 'continue to be the highest or among the highest in the world': Finnish report
In a previous analysis of the Canadian cellphone market, Helsinki-based Rewheel put the blame squarely on Canada’s lack of telecom competition
Author of the article: Tristin Hopper
Publishing date: Oct 10, 2021
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Rewheel is far from the first foreign analyst to be surprised at the disproportionately high mobile rates paid by Canadians.
Tefficient, a Swedish telecom market analyst, found in a July study that Canadian data rates were the highest of 45 countries surveyed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the analysis also found that Canadians were the most miserly with their mobile data.
Last year, a study of international cellphone prices by The Markup, a New York data journalism nonprofit, also found Canada in the clear lead in terms of mobile rates. Loading an hour of Netflix using Canadian mobile data was found to cost an average of $12.55, as compared to 43 cents in Italy.
As early as 2013, an OECD analysis of mobile rates found that Canada ranked near the bottom for virtually every category of wireless plan, particularly when it came to mobile data. That same report also found that Canada was one of the world’s most profitable countries in which to run a wireless telecommunications company.
Among defenders of Canada’s high cellphone rates, one of the chief arguments is that the country’s size and decentralization inherently make cell service more expensive. Rewheel, however, has written that Canadian operators maintain far fewer cell towers per customer than those in the much cheaper Finnish market.
High Canadian cellphone rates briefly became an issue during the 2021 federal election campaign, with both the NDP and the Conservative releasing competing plans to bring down telecom prices.
The Tory plan aimed to open up the Canadian telecom market to increased international competition. The NDP, by contrast, rolled out a proposal to introduce hard caps on wireless fees. To stem overage charges, they also pledged to force telecom providers to provide “unlimited wireless data.”
Although the Liberals were generally quiet about cellphone rates in 2021, the party did make similar pledges during the 2019 campaign. At the time, the party issued a pledge to reduce cellphone rates “by 25 per cent” using a combination of carrot and stick measures directed at Canadian telecoms.
In the most recent election campaign, however, the Liberal platform had no mention of mobile data rates.
Publishing date: Oct 10, 2021
A 2013 OECD analysis of mobile rates found that Canada was one of the world’s most profitable countries in which to run a wireless telecommunications company. PHOTO BY KEVIN KING/POSTMEDIA
A new report by a Finnish telecom analyst has become the latest piece of evidence to show that Canadians pay more for cellphone service than anyone else.
“Prices in the Canadian wireless market … continue to be the highest or among the highest in the world,” reads the latest international comparison of mobile data rates by Rewheel, a Helsinki-based telecom research firm.
The report tracked more than 40 countries to find the minimum cost needed to acquire a 4G cellphone plan with at least 100 gigabytes of mobile data per month.
Canada was by far the most expensive at around $144. The next most-expensive country was South Africa, at around $127. (Prices have been adjusted to Canadian dollars.)
On the other side of the spectrum was Israel. There, a 4G cellphone plan with unlimited minutes and 100 gigabytes of monthly data costs only about C$10 per month. Rewheel also noted that owning a Canadian cellphone is roughly 13 times more expensive than owning a French one.
Canada cellphone bills have been topping Rewheel rankings for years. In a dedicated 2019 analysis of the Canadian cellphone market, the group put the blame squarely on the country’s lack of telecom competition.
“Significant structural … remedies are required,” it concluded, calling the Canadian system a “de-facto network duopoly.”
A new report by a Finnish telecom analyst has become the latest piece of evidence to show that Canadians pay more for cellphone service than anyone else.
“Prices in the Canadian wireless market … continue to be the highest or among the highest in the world,” reads the latest international comparison of mobile data rates by Rewheel, a Helsinki-based telecom research firm.
The report tracked more than 40 countries to find the minimum cost needed to acquire a 4G cellphone plan with at least 100 gigabytes of mobile data per month.
Canada was by far the most expensive at around $144. The next most-expensive country was South Africa, at around $127. (Prices have been adjusted to Canadian dollars.)
On the other side of the spectrum was Israel. There, a 4G cellphone plan with unlimited minutes and 100 gigabytes of monthly data costs only about C$10 per month. Rewheel also noted that owning a Canadian cellphone is roughly 13 times more expensive than owning a French one.
Canada cellphone bills have been topping Rewheel rankings for years. In a dedicated 2019 analysis of the Canadian cellphone market, the group put the blame squarely on the country’s lack of telecom competition.
“Significant structural … remedies are required,” it concluded, calling the Canadian system a “de-facto network duopoly.”
Trudeau has abandoned promise to lower cellphone bills, says NDP
Promises to reduce wireless bills could haunt Liberals
Rewheel is far from the first foreign analyst to be surprised at the disproportionately high mobile rates paid by Canadians.
Tefficient, a Swedish telecom market analyst, found in a July study that Canadian data rates were the highest of 45 countries surveyed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the analysis also found that Canadians were the most miserly with their mobile data.
Last year, a study of international cellphone prices by The Markup, a New York data journalism nonprofit, also found Canada in the clear lead in terms of mobile rates. Loading an hour of Netflix using Canadian mobile data was found to cost an average of $12.55, as compared to 43 cents in Italy.
As early as 2013, an OECD analysis of mobile rates found that Canada ranked near the bottom for virtually every category of wireless plan, particularly when it came to mobile data. That same report also found that Canada was one of the world’s most profitable countries in which to run a wireless telecommunications company.
Among defenders of Canada’s high cellphone rates, one of the chief arguments is that the country’s size and decentralization inherently make cell service more expensive. Rewheel, however, has written that Canadian operators maintain far fewer cell towers per customer than those in the much cheaper Finnish market.
High Canadian cellphone rates briefly became an issue during the 2021 federal election campaign, with both the NDP and the Conservative releasing competing plans to bring down telecom prices.
The Tory plan aimed to open up the Canadian telecom market to increased international competition. The NDP, by contrast, rolled out a proposal to introduce hard caps on wireless fees. To stem overage charges, they also pledged to force telecom providers to provide “unlimited wireless data.”
Although the Liberals were generally quiet about cellphone rates in 2021, the party did make similar pledges during the 2019 campaign. At the time, the party issued a pledge to reduce cellphone rates “by 25 per cent” using a combination of carrot and stick measures directed at Canadian telecoms.
In the most recent election campaign, however, the Liberal platform had no mention of mobile data rates.
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