CRTC Report Finds Canadians Pay Some of the Highest Telecom Rates
By Simon Hung
August 15, 2016Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but telecom rates in Canada are among the highest in the world. Many Canadians likely already had suspicions of this notion, but those suspicions were confirmed in a recent report published by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which compared the average monthly rates of various telecom services from countries in the G7 (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States).
The study, conducted between January and February 2016 with data from six cities (Halifax, Montreal, Regina, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg), found that monthly rates for broadband internet, mobile wireless and bundled services consistently ranked among the most expensive compared to other the other G7 countries.
The study was split into five common telecom services and then separated into varying levels of service. While Canada only ranked the most expensive in two categories, they ranked in the top three most expensive in 16 out of 20 total categories. The notable exception was home phone, where Canada ranked fifth or sixth most expensive.
We’ve listed the results of the study below -- the number in parentheses indicates Canada’s rank out of 8.
Broadband Internet
- Level 1: 3 to 9 Mbps - $41.94 (#3)
- Level 2: 10 to 15 Mbps - $58.88 (#4)
- Level 3: 16 to 40 Mbps - $63.48 (#3)
- Level 4: 41 to 100 Mbps - $78.77 (#2)
- Level 5: 100 Mbps and up - $114.65 (#2)
Home Phone
- Level 1: 400 minutes with 10% long distance - $39.52 (#6)
- Level 2: 1000 minutes with 20% long distance - $55.78 (#5)
- Level 3: 1600 minutes with 30% long distance - $60.32 (#5)
Mobile Wireless
- Level 1: 150 minutes - $41.08 (#1)
- Level 2: 450 minutes and 300 SMS - $48.77 (#3)
- Level 3: 1200 minutes, 300 SMS and 1GB data - $74.67 (#2)
- Level 4: unlimited minutes, 300 SMS and 2GB data - $81.05 (#2)
- Level 5: unlimited minutes, SMS and 5GB data - $96.55 (#2)
- Level 6: unlimited minutes, SMS and 10GB data with three lines - $231.99 (#2)
Mobile Wireless Data
- Level 1: 2GB to 5GB - $46.47 (#3)
- Level 2: 5GB to 10GB - $63.30 (#3)
- Level 3: 10GB and up - $80.98 (#3)
Service Bundles
- Level 1: Home phone, wireless and fixed broadband - $161.63 (#1)
- Level 2: Home phone, fixed broadband and TV - $135.60 (#3)
- Level 3: Home phone, wireless, fixed broadband and TV - $185.06 (#3)
The results aren’t necessarily ground-breaking, but it is interesting to see how much more we’re paying for services compared to other countries. For example, it costs an average of $80.98 per month in Canada for 10GB or more of mobile data, compared to just $24.47 per month in the UK. You can click here to view the full CRTC report.
The high prices relative to other countries can likely be attributed to the lack of competition in the telecom industry. “The Big Three” of Bell, Rogers and TELUS control over 90% of the telecom market in Canada and many customers are at their mercy when it comes to pricing. Another troubling trend is the acquisition of small-market competitors, such as Rogers’ acquisition of Mobilicity or Bell’s acquisition of MTS, making it difficult for consumers to find options that aren’t under the umbrella of The Big Three.
Let us know how you feel about these findings by leaving a comment and vote in our poll to see what the average monthly telecom costs are among RFDers. If you’re looking for a place to find deals on telecom services, our Ongoing Deals forum is a good place to start!
Showing 40 Most Recent Comments
View allLife is great.
Bringing this iPhone to another service provider will barely save any money at all unless I cut data off for good, and I don't see myself doing that at all to be honest.
The fact that the CRTC is coming out with this report is laughable, anyone not living under a rock knows that we pay huge $ and have been for the last what, 8+ years?
That just shows you that they won't do anything at all.
I was looking at what "required" plans are on certain phones and they're getting it up to $90 now... It's blatant robbery for no reason and I'm done with it. My contract is up in March 2017. I'll keep my iPhone 6 Plus 64GB as no phones are really that much better feature wise for me that if telus doesn't give me a decent renewal term with this phone then I'll leave them.
Lastly, all the whiners that didn't want 3 year contracts cause you always wanted the newest phones... What did you expect? The prices to stay the same? The plans to get cheaper? It's funny how a need for instant gratification just screwed everyone...
There's no way we can justify, and we don't need data at all. Wifi at home is enough for that...
Nothing wrong with your approach if it works for you. Just pointing out another way to minimize costs using only data.
Can't justify paying more than that for phone calls/texts.
Telcos know people are hooked onto DATA, so they charge for it as much as they like. I'm surprised it hasn't skyrocketed yet by these telcos.
I'll stay with my NO DATA plans thanks to everyone else paying so much
I would love to see our government ban the locking of phones. It's disgusting that it is legal when the whole purpose is solely to limit competition
The question we all should ask is what will the CRTC do about all this.
So much free wifi these days, rare to even need data so we don't bother with it.
The general public are still signing up and paying for their crappy plans. We're just a drop in the bucket.
Do I think they could be lower, yes. However I blame the federal government for the high costs of "spectrum" that is nothing more than air, as well as all the fees and taxes added directly or indirectly to our bills.
The elimination of the 3 year contract was not what the Telcos wanted, it was what a few whiners wanted and the CRTC listened. I personally buy my phones outright and never get locked in. If you want your phone paid for over 2 years, then your monthly cost will go up. It does not help that our dollar has tanked sine the new rules came into effect. That ups the cost of our phones by 30-35% alone.
So if you don't like the cost, then don't have a wireless phone. Its a choice, not a right, not an entitlement, not for those who want everything for next to free.
Hopefully the CRTC will ban the charging to unlock phones for those who buy from the carrier. This is just outright thievery. So first they lock the phone (Why?) AND then they charge to unlock it. Actually, they just provide a code, you unlock it yourself. So why does that cost $35-$75? Phone locking should be illegal. The bank doesn't have a set of keys for your car when you have a car loan do they???
There's lots to whine about, just pick the right stuff and we maybe heard.
Do I think they could be lower, yes. However I blame the federal government for the high costs of "spectrum" that is nothing more than air, as well as all the fees and taxes added directly or indirectly to our bills.
The elimination of the 3 year contract was not what the Telcos wanted, it was what a few whiners wanted and the CRTC listened. I personally buy my phones outright and never get locked in. If you want your phone paid for over 2 years, then your monthly cost will go up. It does not help that our dollar has tanked sine the new rules came into effect. That ups the cost of our phones by 30-35% alone.
So if you don't like the cost, then don't have a wireless phone. Its a choice, not a right, not an entitlement, not for those who want everything for next to free.
Hopefully the CRTC will ban the charging to unlock phones for those who buy from the carrier. This is just outright thievery. So first they lock the phone (Why?) AND then they charge to unlock it. Actually, they just provide a code, you unlock it yourself. So why does that cost $35-$75? Phone locking should be illegal. The bank doesn't have a set of keys for your car when you have a car loan do they???
There's lots to whine about, just pick the right stuff and we maybe heard.
Robelus just took that as an excuse to raise prices and point the finger at government as the source of blame.
In reality, they could have kept their exact same rate plans and increased the money down up front and stop offering "free" phones. Instead they choose to not offer this option at all, and increase the monthly rate for everyone, regardless.
They could have also unbundled service and device and show the device portion on a separate bill line and service portion as a separate line. Once you pay off your device, you pay only the service portion.
But of course we all know that will never happen.
If the average phone bill monthly cost for most of the mobile users in canada suddenly dropped to single digits $ due to promo error, bad marketing departments, or even disgruntled internal operatives, the whole oligopoly would implode in a few months.
I will never spend $30+ on a mobile phone plan with data. Most have given up and accepted a $100+ a month plan as normal since they must have the 2tb iPhone 9000+ super bejewelled platinum edition to show off while they wander aimlessly thru life looking for meaning, Pokemon, or whatever else.
The CRTC and Big 3 are to blame, but WE as Canadians are partly at fault too for choosing to accept these high prices.
WE (not necessarily you or I specifically) convinced the CRTC to change the laws banning 3 year contracts, down to 2. Result, higher monthly rates.
If the laws were simply changed to ban cancellation fees, sans paying out your balance of the subsidized phone, it'd be all good.
WE continue to buy 'subsidized' (I using this word incorrectly because the cost is just spread over the term) phones from carriers.
WE choose to 'bundle' and 'share' with multiple family members and services (ISP, TV, Wireless).
- Stop paying them directly. Use a flanker brand (Public, Koodo) and/or milk their gift card bonuses (eg Koodo)
- Take advantage of their loopholes like out of province/region plans like Koodo MB or Tbaytel Prepaid or Tablet Flex Data Plans
- Buy unlocked phones
- Separate WANTS from Needs. Big 3 and flankers are all offering unlimited Nationwide Talk and text because most people dont use it. People gobbling up this marketing like they're getting a 'deal.' They use data, where they're limiting and charging more.
So now what are they going to do about it [that's any more effective than what they've done in the past 20+ years to make telecom services more competitive]?
Short answer: Less than nothing/Moins de rien