Mobile prices down but high internationally, broadband prices up and still high internationally: ISED report

In 2021, consumer mobile wireless fell by as much as 15 per cent, fixed broadband prices increased by as much as 13 per cent, while mobile internet prices have remained relatively stable, according to a new report. In late June, the department of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development quietly released its annual pricing report, conducted in February on behalf of the department by Wall Communications Inc. and commonly referred to as the Wall report. When compared to other countries selected by Wall Communications – the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan – Canada's telecommunications services were frequently more expensive, especially when it comes to bigger mobile data packages and broadband speeds. When it comes to mobile wireless, the report's findings for the year 2021 are largely in line with the findings for 2020 and 2019: prices in Canada are falling, but are still higher than most of Canada's fellow developed nations. For example, the average monthly price for what the report calls a Level 4 wireless service, with 5 to 6 gigabits (GB) of data, cost $45.47 in Canada. The price was roughly level with the price of a plan in the United States, but almost twice the price of similar plans on offer in the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. In Japan however, such a plan was more than twice as expensive as in Canada, at $99.95. Summary of international wireless, broadband, and mobile internet services price comparisons (Wall Communications Inc. 2021). For plans with larger data buckets, the disparities become steeper. A so-called Level 6 plan (10 to 20 GB of data) costs $62.77 per month in Canada, comparable with Germany ($61.45) and the U.S. ($63.52), but sharply higher that Australia ($32.30), the U.K. ($24.24), France ($39.45). The average Canadian price was lower than the same plan in Japan ($73.62). For a plan between 50 to 99 GB of monthly data, Canada averaged $121.06 per month, well above plans in Australia ($55.52), the U.K. ($38.97), France ($37.72), and Italy ($36.29). When it comes to broadband service, Canada's plans were more expensive than similar plans in Europe, and sharply so at higher speeds. For a Level 3 plan with 16 to 40 megabits per second (Mbps), the average monthly cost in Canada was $66.31, more expensive than similar plans in the U.K. ($41.82), France ($28.25), Italy ($41.27), and Germany ($50.52), but comparable with plans in the U.S. ($59.11) and Australia ($59.61), and cheaper than similar plans in Japan ($76.04). At the highest speeds, however, Canada was at the top end of all the countries measured. At speeds of 500 Mbps and over Canadian plans averaged $108.71 per month, while the same plans in the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, and Japan cost $91.19, $44.36, $42.02, $54.38, and $85.58, respectively. Similar plans in the U.S. cost about the same as in Canada. Within Canada, mobile wireless prices dropped between 2020 and 2021. For a plan with 5 to 6 GB of data, prices fell by 11.2 per cent from $51.21 to $45.47. A larger pan with between 20 and 49 GB of data fell 16.27 per cent from $91.04 to $76.23 from 2020 to 2021. The largest plans measured, between 50 and 99 GB of monthly data, were relatively stable and dropped only slightly from $123.11 to $121.06 over the year. Broadband service prices, however, generally moved in the opposite direction. For speeds of 16 to 40 Mbps, prices rose 6.47 per cent from $61.62 to $66.31. A plan of 100 to 246 Mbps jumped 13.39 per cent from $83.95 in 2020 to $95 in 2021. While other increases across the service tiers were more modest, the only category that saw a fall in prices were plans with between 10 to 15 Mbps, which dropped 5.6 per cent from $54.61 to $51.54. Summary of Canadian wireless, broadband, and mobile internet services prices 2021 (Wall Communications Inc. 2021). When comparing mobile prices between incumbents (BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc.) and regionals in cities where regionals operate (Shaw Communications Inc.'s Freedom Mobile in Vancouver and Toronto, Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron in Montreal, Xplornet Inc. in Winnipeg, Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. in Regina, and Bragg Communications Inc.'s Eastlink in Halifax), the regionals' prices were "uniformly lower than incumbent prices when averaged across the country." The single exception was the Level 4 plans of 5 to 6 GB per month, in which the regionals' prices were roughly 17 per cent higher than the incumbents. Only two regional providers, Xplornet, and Sasktel, offered plans in that tier. The report also compared the regionals' plans with incumbent flanker brands (Virgin, Fido, and Koodo), and found that in certain smaller data packages, the regionals are cheaper, while in larger data packages, the regional providers are more expensive than incumbent flankers. "The relationship between flanker prices and regional operator prices varies widely across regions and basket levels with no clear pattern. Regional prices in Ontario and BC are typically lower than incumbent flanker brand while elsewhere flanker prices are often lower than regional provider prices," the report read. For fixed broadband service, wholesale-based competitors (such as Distributel Communications Ltd. and TekSavvy Solutions Inc.) were as much as 15 per cent cheaper nationwide at lower speeds than incumbents in the markets surveyed. In higher speed tiers, such as those which offer faster than 250 Mbps, the wholesale based competitors were as much as 15 per cent more expensive nationwide than incumbent plans. — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca

Mobile prices down but high internationally, broadband prices up and still high internationally: ISED report

News | July 6, 2022

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Mobile prices down but high internationally, broadband prices up and still high internationally: ISED report

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