![]() I have spent a fair bit of time in Europe and just like Canada, everyone who wants a cell phone has a cellphone. Sure, I could move to Norway, a country with roughly the same population as Toronto concentrated mostly in a half dozen medium sized cities, and find slightly lower cell phone rates but that would be more than offset by having to endure Norway’s notoriously high tax rates that suck up 41% of their GDP. When you consider that many of the countries we are compared to have vastly inferior wireless networks, seeing that our cell phone prices are near the middle of the pack is actually pretty damned impressive. Like most Canadians I have an irrational love for beer and hockey and I also enjoy bashing the banks, airlines and phone companies. I have strong it’s a rip-off instincts, I guess. AVEA CARD READER WITH TIMEPLUS PLUSI regard the lock-in time plus local and roaming pricing for iPhone telephony and data ridiculously expensive - that’s why I don’t own one. That wireless voice and data services rank among the highest priced in the world doesn’t surprise me at all - it’s why I have Wi-Fi only iPods and iPads and it’s why I have a dumb Doro phone with no data plan. AVEA CARD READER WITH TIMEPLUS TVThen came cable telephony bundled with TV and Internet. For those used to telephone modems it seemed worth it to get 1 up 10 down. Adding Internet requires some switching infrastructure but in the last mile it’s just another channel. Then came Internet over cable again at high prices relative to other countries even though all the last mile infrastructure was in place and paid for. The cable companies are now owned by very rich men. Starting long ago with Cable TV networks, the CRTC fell for the sparse population line and allowed high prices and very awkward bundles. Based on recent comments, it does not appear the government shares that view. Telus apparently believes the fact that we rank 18th out of 19th countries in this OECD sample is a great success story. This is the data provided by the OECD using Telus as representative of Canadian pricing: the 2nd most expensive of 7 countries for 1 GB of wireless data (at speeds Telus customers are likely to receive) and the second most expensive of 19 countries for 500 MB of wireless data for tablets (again at speeds Telus customers are likely to receive). Second, a 500 MB data plan for tablets with speeds of at least 7.0 Mbit/s or more: Rank First, a 1 GB data plan with speeds of 40 Mbit/s or more: Rank In other words, this is the OECD comparison of Telus pricing against providers in other countries offering comparable speeds. Moreover, I have eliminated any country that does not match the Telus speed according to the OECD data. To address their concerns about methodology and suggestions that rank do not tell the whole story, below are two of the key baskets from the OECD pricing comparisons that used Telus costs. Telus also adds that pricing alone does not tell the whole story, noting that different prices may reflect different speeds. Interestingly, days after Telus promoted the OECD report with a press release and quotes from CEO Darren Entwistle claiming that Canadians “pay about the same prices as people in much more densely populated countries”, it now says the OECD methodology is “limited.” The OECD data relies on sample plans from Telus, Bell, and Rogers for its analysis. Yet in its own chart, Canada ranks among the more expensive countries within the G7 in every category but one. Telus says that scratching below the surface of the OECD report will lead people to conclude that Canadians pay about the same as other developed countries. It is a testament to how out-of-touch Canada’s incumbent wireless providers have become that they think Canadians should be celebrating the fact that we are not the single most expensive wireless country in the developed economy world. That’s a great success story we should be celebrating. When you consider our enormous investment, challenging geography, sparse population and outstanding networks Canada really SHOULD be the most expensive country for wireless service in the OECD, but we’re not. The post notes the investment that Telus and other companies have made in Canada (Peter Nowak explains the reason behind much of that investment) and argues that: Telus has responded to my post on the 2013 OECD Communications Outlook, which ranked Canada among the most expensive countries in the OECD for wireless services in virtually every category, with its own post claiming that Canadians should be celebrating our relatively high prices. ![]()
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