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Canada has some of the highest costs for cellular use in the world, yet the big telcom companies continue to raise rates.
Ottawa (19 Mar. 2014) — Rogers, Bell and Telus, the big three telecommunication providers, have not only ignored cries from Canadians to lower cellular fees but have gone a step further and increased all packages by $5. The increases apply to contract renewals and new user packages. Customers who have existing plans continue to pay their previous rates.
Big three telecom providers raise prices
The rates now being applied to customers of the big three telecom giants amount to $80 per month. This includes 500 megabytes of data, unlimited nationwide calling, unlimited messaging, voicemail and call display. Previously, providers charged extra for all of these services. Charges for plans in 2013 ranged from $35 to $55 per month.
When the CBC looked at costs across the country, it found that in Manitoba and Saskatchewan costs were considerably lower, with more services, possibly due to more pressure from regioanl providers such as MTS and SaskTel. For example, Bell and Rogers plans start at $65 per month with five GB of data.
Canadian cellular charges are some of the highest worldwide
In poll after poll, survey after survey, Canadians cite the high cost of cellular fees as one of the biggest complaints they have.
The annual report issued in June 2013 by the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services showed that 60 per cent of all complaints involved wireless services. Complaints about data charges more than doubled year after year.
Conservatives show no interest in regulating industry to help Canadians
The only way the Conservative government appears interested in getting involved in the industry is by allowing more companies to gain access to the field. In the last spectrum auction, Vidéotron, owned by Québecor Inc., emerged as a new national player acquiring a number of licenses to allow the company to compete in Ontario, Québec, Alberta and British Columbia. Vidéotron has not released much information regarding its expansion plans, so consumers are once again left guessing at how this will help lower their costs.
To date, many of the smaller cellular providers have either been bought out by one of the big three companies or have such limited coverage as to not be a major threat in the industry.
More information:
Canada has the highest roaming fees says a new OECD report
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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE