Canada slips to No. 28 in OECD broadband pricing ranking

Newly released broadband data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranks Canada 28 out of 33 countries on average monthly broadband pricing. In new data released this week, the OECD said that, as of September 2010, Canada’s average monthly subscription price was $46.27 US for broadband connections of 2.5 to 15 Mbps. Greece leads the pack with an average monthly price of $22.25 US, followed by Austria at $22.75 and Australia at $26.15 US. The United States ranked ahead of Canada at 20th, with an average monthly price of $38.11 US. Mexico ranked last, at $91.19 US per month, followed by Chile and New Zealand in second- and third-last places at $55.88 US and $54.72 per month, respectively. “It’s terrible,” John Lawford, counsel with consumer group the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), said in an interview. “It’s discouraging to see that we’re not keeping pace with the rest of the OECD countries.” Lawford pointed out that, on pricing, Canada’s position dropped to 28 from a ranking of 23 in the OECD’s 2009 data, when the country’s average monthly broadband price for a 2.5 to 10 Mbps service was $46.92 US. In similar data updated this week, the OECD Canada ranked 22nd on average advertised broadband download speeds, which as of September 2010 measured 20.8 Mbps from a survey of 18 service offerings. Sweden ranked No. 1 with an average advertised speed of 85.6 Mbps derived from a survey of 19 service offerings. Japan ranked third with average advertised speeds of 80.6 Mbps from 38 offerings. Australia had average advertised speeds of 32.4 Mbps from 46 offerings and the United States ranked much lower with an average of 17.7 Mbps from 21 offerings, the OECD said. Ireland and Mexico ranked at the bottom of the pack with average advertised speeds of 9.6 Mbps and 3 Mbps, respectively, each calculated from 11 offerings. Lawford said the OECD data calls for “dramatic action” either from the CRTC or the next elected federal government. He said there is a need for a contribution regime to support affordable broadband access. PIAC called for such a regime during a CRTC hearing last fall on access to basic services. “You’ve got a cable-DSL duopoly that is not really delivering,” Lawford said. Jim Johannsson, a spokesman for broadband provider Telus Communications Co., said in an interview that the company is studying the data to try to understand how average prices “in many cases are double what we charge in real life.” Johannsson said the OECD may have used a “very small sample” of ISPs in its study. Telus offers a $39 broadband plan with a 125 GB cap in Western Canada, where prices tend to be lower, he said. He added that past OECD data has not been “truly representative” of Canada. “The latest OECD data demonstrates a need for a better way to compare Canada to the rest of the world,” Johannsson said. Jan Innes, a spokeswoman for Rogers Communications Inc., also criticized the OECD data, saying the company has “a problem with the methodology.” She said by email that Rogers is still trying to understand the OECD’s calculations and suggested that the organization shouldn’t compare speeds within a range 2.5 to 15 Mbps. It should “pick one speed and price it accordingly. need to compare apples to apples,” Innes said. The OECD also reported that Canada ranked third out of 13 countries for the highest average monthly data caps. The OECD said that, as of September 2010, Canada had an average monthly bit cap of 98.4 GB. Hungary had the highest average monthly bit caps at 219.1 GB and Luxembourg had the lowest at 66.7 GB. Canada’s average overage fee per gigabyte was $2 US whereas Ireland had the highest average overage fee of $15 US, the OECD reported. Of the 13 OECD countries listed as having bit caps, Iceland had the lowest listed average price of $1 US per gigabyte. Six of the countries listed as having bit caps did not report any overage fees. On broadband penetration, as of June 2010, the OECD said Canada has a wireline subscription rate of 30.1 per cent in a country with an average population density of 3.4 people per square kilometre. Japan and the United States had lower wireline broadband subscription rates of 26.3 per cent and 27.1 per cent, respectively. The OECD reported the U.S. to have an average population density of 32.8 people per square kilometre and Japan at 337.8. The Netherlands had the highest rate of wireline broadband subscribers at 37.8 per cent with a population density of 405.1 people per square kilometre. Australia’s wireline subscriber rate was 23.4 per cent with an average population density of 2.9. The World Economic Forum also released a new report this week that ranked Canada No. 8 out of 138 countries in its 2010-2011 “Network Readiness Index.” The report said Canada dropped one position from its previous ranking. “Nevertheless it displays a strong showing, mainly driven by a very ICT -conducive environment (5th) and high levels of individual readiness (6th) and government usage (5th),” the report said. “Individual and business usage are weaker at 23rd and 22nd, respectively: comparatively low penetration rates for mobile telephony remains a notable problem for the country (70.9 per 100 population, corresponding to 95th place). “On a similar note, Canadian businesses appear less prompt than their southern neighbors to harness new technologies or to produce and export innovative products in the international markets—the country ranks 20th for PCT patent applications per million population (80.2) and only 9.2 percent of its goods exports are high-tech products (28th).” Sweden ranked No. 1 in the index, Singapore No. 2, and Finland No. 3. The United States ranked No. 5. sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

Canada slips to No. 28 in OECD broadband pricing ranking

News | April 14, 2011

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