Wireless prices justified even if high by global standards: report

TORONTO • Canadians may complain about paying some of the highest wireless prices in the world, but we should also acknowledge the country has some of the world’s most advanced networks, according to a report from the Montreal Economic Institute.

The private-sector think tank says Canada’s relatively high prices are justified by the quality and reach of the service, the size of the country and the investments carriers are making in fifth-generation wireless technology.

“Yes, we pay more. But we get a lot more. That’s what I’d like people to take into consideration when they complain about their prices,” author Martin Masse said in aninterview.

Citing several other studies, the 40-page MEI report says Canadian wireless carriers are among the world’s biggest investors in wireless infrastructure “however one calculates it: per connection, per subscriber, per capita, or as a percentage of their revenue.”

The benefit, it adds, is that Canadian carriers are consistently ranked among the fastest in the world, citing statistics from telecom equipment maker Cisco and Open Signal, which measure networks in various countries.

The think tank, which takes an anti-regulatory stance, receives some funding from the telecommunications industry but says it makes its report independently.

The study comes as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is in the midst of requiring Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Inc. to add a basic, data-only wireless service to their product lineup.

Hundreds of consumers making submissions to the CRTC’s public consultations have generally rejected the pricing proposals submitted recently by the three national carriers as too expensive.

“The three proposals by Rogers, Bell and Telus for data-only plans offer far too little data for their cost,” Nathan Emberson of Toronto said in a written submission to the CRTC.

“It has been frequently shown that mobile phone plans are exorbitantin Canada. Moreover, there is no argument to justify these costs other than a lack of competition and political will,” Joel D’Astous-Page of Quebec wrote in French.

Masse said he doesn’t think Canada should follow Europe’s lead, or even the United States, in emphasizing low prices at the expense of infrastructure improvements because their carriers aren’t keeping up with the investments on advanced fourth-generation and fifthgeneration networks.

“In five years, when we have our 5G networks deployed here ... in Europe they will still pay low prices for crappy services and no 5G, or years behind us in deploying 5G, which will have an impact on their whole economy.

“We all want to pay less. But is this what we want?”

Masse added people who want lower prices have the opportunity to pick alternatives to the main services offered by the three big national carriers.

For instance, Rogers operates Fido and Chatr; Bell operates Virgin Mobile and Lucky Mobile; and Telus operates Koodo and Public Mobile. In addition, Shaw’s Freedom Mobile, Quebecor’s Vidéotron and Eastlink compete with the Big Three.

In short, the CRTC’s price comparison done by the Nordicity consulting group “ignores most factors that explain how these products and the markets where they are produced and sold are different,” Masse wrote.