Canadian Cellphone Bills Are Some of the Highest In the World, Says Report (straight.com) 184
Freshly Exhumed shares a report from Straight: A report released this week by the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) confirms that Canada ranks among the top three most costly countries for mobile wireless plans. Comparing the U.K, Italy, France, Australia, Japan, and the U.S. on six tiers of pricing -- which looked at talk-time, texts, and data -- the document shows that Canada has the most expensive mid-range and higher-tier plans in the world. "It is unacceptable that Canadians continue to pay ever-rising prices year after year for something as critical as mobile communications services," said Katy Anderson, Digital Rights Advocate at OpenMedia.
Well, duh (Score:2)
That's why I know a lot of people without cellphones. Basic packages are around $15~$20 and only give you about 10 hours of voice calls. You can pay $10~$20 extra on top of that for something like 100~500MB of data. It's just insane.
And there's basically monopolies on the coverage everywhere, you only have options if you live in or near the big cities. Get outside of Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal and your list of options gets really small, really fast.
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On the one hand, I feel bad for my northern neighbors.
On the other hand, how the hell are you going to pay to cover that huge area with such a small population in most places?
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On the other hand, how the hell are you going to pay to cover that huge area with such a small population in most places?
That's the point. They don't. Most of Canada isn't covered by cell phone signal.
Countries with similar population density such as Sweden and even Australia have better cell phone plans so Canada is getting ripped off no mater what excuse you can find.
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They only need to cover the cities and the one road that goes west to east across the country.
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That's why I know a lot of people without cellphones.
Sounds fun, wish mobile was more expensive where I live.
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All 3 of the major carriers (Telus, Rogers, Bell) have a special going right now with their budget subsidiaries (Koodo, Fido, Virgin):
$60 / mth for unlimited Canada-wide minutes, unlimited SMS/MMS, voicemail, call display, etc, etc, etc, with 10 GB of data.
The Fido and Virgin deals are actually 5 GB plans with a bonus 5 GB for the first 12 months. The Koodo plan is actually 10 GB of data.
Note: These plans are only available until the 19th of Dec, and they haven't done much advertising for them.
These are f
Yes it's ridiculous (Score:3)
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They passed laws that pre-paid credit cards and pre-paid store cards cannot expire anymore, so pre-paid phone cards should not expire too. You can be sure bribes were involved to exclude phone companies out of that law.
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I do the same thing as you, but with PetroMobility, 25$ for 120 days, so 75$/year, it's 10 per minutes/SMS. I rarely use more than 15$ for a 120 days period.
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The reason not to use those is that its an american company and all your data is sent to the USA. texas i believe.
Uh, what data, exactly? The phone numbers of people I call? The phone numbers of people who call me? The texts I receive or send?
Yes, those go through the phone company. Whether it be Bell, Rogers, Telus, AT&T, or someone else, the phone company will have a record of what your phone calls were, if for nothing else than bill purposes.
I'm not really sure where the call center is for Speakout. I think the last time I called them voice was in 2009. And at the time, they were actually pretty helpful (I was u
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I'm on Speakout, as well. If you're going through 7-11 rather than PetroCanada, you can buy minutes in blocks as low as $25 for the year.
I have co-workers who spend $350 a month for their family plans (two adults, two children). If they went with Speakout or similar, it would be closer to $7 a month. But then when you see two kids at the dinner table texting each other, or the adults making a 45 minute call on their cell phone when sitting right next to a landline, you see where why the telcos can charge wh
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On the upside (Score:2)
Anyone invested in Telus, Rogers, and Bell have had a good decade.
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Rogers
In this context, is Rogers a verb?
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It's ringing a Bell, Canada!
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Except Sask (Score:2)
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The only way that things will change... (Score:2)
After all, it's not ridiculous for a company to charge as much as people are willing to pay for a product or service, even if they pay it only because it is preferable to them than the inconvenience of not having it.
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There will never be any real competition in the market until the federal government repeals the rules requiring 50%+1 canadian ownership of telecommunications companies.
Don't get too excited (Score:5, Informative)
If you look at the actual report, you'll find the differences between the prices in the US and Canada are not that dramatic. And they don't take into consideration all the lovely fees and service charges that get added to your cellular bill.
Here's a direct link to the report, because the article itself gives almost no useful data:
https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/... [ic.gc.ca]
It's dumb (Score:2)
I got my Telus mobility bill just a couple days ago, it's just a few cents shy of $90 for a 1 GB data plan. I get about 300 minutes of call time (which I don't think I've ever gotten close to using) and unlimited texting nationwide (whoop de doo).
I'm really thinking about going back to a dumb phone, or at least scrapping the data plan. 99% of the time I'm on WiFi anyway.
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The prices vary greatly depending where you live.
Here in SK with Koodo, I'm paying $48/mo for Unlimited Nationwide Calling (and roaming, I can be in BC and call NS for not a penny more!), Unlimited North American SMS/MMS (Canada and US), and 5GB of Data per month.
I've yet to find a better deal anywhere else. I rarely go over 1GB data a month, so I don't have a use for "Unlimited" data.
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Freedom Anywhere
$55
8gb/1gb roaming
unlimited NA text voice roaming
(GTA)
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Sask tends to have the best rates and from what I've seen Ontario the worst. On the Telus site using a 6gb unlimited talk and text plan as a base you get:
Sask = $55
Ontario = $100 (but only 5gb)
Quebec = $63
Now I can see Quebec from my office window but I have to pay almost double for access to the same network. The Quebec cable company however does offer cell plans across the border which also happen to use the Telus network but at Quebec rates. So I can go with Telus and pay $100+ or switch to Video
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I'm in BC on Koodo. After being badly overcharged a couple of years ago, I decided to turn off my data modem service until I had recouped the entire overcharge.
This will take a while, as this is only saving me $5/month (measured against the impossibly small 25 MB/month plan). I must have misunderstood something in the TOS, but after a server crash (the only server in a company just coming out of post-2008 mothballs), just the panicky phone calls from the server room the following week (where it wasn't con
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I see where you're coming from, but I don't think you understand why it's cheaper in SK.
Telus (as well as Bell) simply leases network capacity from Sasktel within the province of Saskatchewan. They own zero equipment here, and have to do none of the maintenance. I suspect their operating costs are actually lower here.
All of Sasktel's infrastructure has been paid for with tax payer money over the past 60 years.
In exchange, Sasktel users utilize Bell owned towers outside of SK, so I'm sure there's some net me
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I pay 35$+tx a month which is a little bit more than 40$ for unlimited calls across the country, 1 Gig data, unlimited texting nationwide and a voicemail box with 10 messages (the others offer only 3 VM with the base plan) on Koodo.
Of course Koodo is using Telus' network since it's the same owner but most think it's better quality to be on a known brand like Telus.
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My phone company is Canadian (Ting [ting.com]). They are available all over the US and they're extremely cheap.
Are they not available in Canada?
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Yep, in an odd twist we do require that cable, fibre and phone line networks be made available wholesale.
Personally I'd like them to prevent network infrastructure operators from offering services to end users. Then we could have infrastructure companies competing with each other and service companies competing.
Re: It's dumb (Score:2)
Depends on where (Score:1)
Saskatchewan has some of the lowest rates, for example.
Every time I go to Niagara Falls (Score:2)
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I live in Victoria BC, and for years, I would roam onto AT&T out of Port Angeles every time I went near the water on that side. I don't know how many bills I had to get sorted before they stopped charging.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
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Still wish we'd get credited back for unused stuff (Score:2)
Data Only (Score:2)
I signed up for a Voice and 6GB data plan when the iPhone first came to Canada. It cost almost $85/mo (taxes in). It's still cheaper than any comparable plan you can get now.
I got fed up and did the math. It would actually be cheaper to sign up with GoogleFi in the US, and just roam in Canada.
So what I do now, is I use a flex data tablet plan. Costs $17 for 3GB, and $10/1GB after that, and I use a VOIP provider for voice and text, which costs less than a dollar a month for the number, and pennies a minute f
Re: Data Only (Score:2)
Same setup here, but $15 per month. With VoIP costs included I'm up to $18 per month or less.
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What VOIP provider? Our Vonage bill is $41.58/mos ($27.99 + $13.59 in "Fees and Taxes") - which we barely even use.
Re: Data Only (Score:2)
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I use voip.ms. They're awesome for voice, but if you're a texter then you may want to look at other alternatives.
Still cheap (Score:2)
Canadians pay more for everything (Score:2)
Was true 10 years ago too (Score:2)
Deal on right now in BC/AB/ON (Score:2)
So just as this was posted, there is a $60/mo promo going on with all the carriers in BC and AB, $60/mo for 10GB data, unlimited nationwide text/talk, BYOD. Some of the carriers (and probably soon all) are also offering it in ON. Get on it while you can.
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http://www.kodomobile.ca/ [kodomobile.ca] / just make usre your location is set to BC or Alberta. Huge threads on this on redflagdeals.
For most of them you have to either go to the shop or call in, it's a flash sale, and not generally available through their online cart stuff.
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The problem is that Freedom's coverage is seriously lacking, and besides they're now owned by shaw, who is just as evil as Telus, Bell, and rogers.
Interesting contrast between Internet and Mobile (Score:5, Interesting)
I live in Canada as a US expat. US allows ISPs to control the last mile so Comcast and such prohibit any competition for service to your house. Ontario, at least, requires Rogers, Bell to lease their lines to anyone. So I contract with VMedia and get cable with a couple of premium packages and 35 mbit down for about CAD$70 a month, much cheaper than what I was paying in the US ($70 a month for 1.5 mbit down. Really. Try living in Qwest territory.)
OTOH the US prohibits telcos from owning cell towers, and the cell tower operators must lease to anyone so competition is fierce. As a result there's lots of competition and mobile prices are reasonable. In Ontario, Rogers owns Rogers towers, and no one else can use them. Each telco has to build its own tower network, decreasing competition and driving up prices.
What the numbers in the report don't show is that in the US you can get family bundles that substantially lower the bill; I have 5 lines and pay about US$120 a month for the service; the first line is $60 and then each additional line is $10. If I was to contract with Rogers, I'd pay CAD$60 PER LINE with no discount. Sure I can share data, but I have to pay full freight for each line.
Collusion (Score:2)
The problem is Canada is there is very little competition, and what does exist seems to actively collude and price fix (depending on your definitions I suppose). From my simple perspective, just go to Bell or Rogers (or one of their subsidiaries) websites. You'll see the exact same plans, for the exact same prices. The new player Wind, might actually shake some things up, however they have a pretty limited market share and is only really available is certain markets anyway. I am not surprised in the least t
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And for all the idiots talking about population density? Saskatchewan = 1.8 persons/km, Ontario = 14.1 persons/km. The difference is competition and r
Bad plans (Score:2)
After five years of paying 50 CAD for more data and minutes than I ever used in a month, I went to a prepaid plan with minutes and data that don't expire at the end of the month if I pay the $15 base charge (Koodo). I now average about $25 a month in cell costs without being very stingy with my data or minutes.
My wife uses her phone MUCH less than I do, so she is on a pay as you go plan and spends around $5 a month with no data (speakout7eleven).
The key is to buy phones outright and not get sucked in to co
Key Parameters (Score:2)
Let me guess - The rates were cheaper in the places with higher population density.
Hyperbole: #5 of 8 isn't so bad. (Score:2)
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Here's the three reasons why it costs so much:
Bell
Rogers
Telus
If you want more details, watch the video at this address:
http://theprovince.com/news/ca... [theprovince.com]
Re:$ or it didn't happen (Score:4, Funny)
I'm confused. What is Bell Rogers going to Telus?
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I'm confused. What is Bell Rogers going to Telus?
Bill Rogers is going to Telus that an enormous country with a low population density and harsh weather requiring more expensive equipment, combined with a mostly "fairly-well off" population is going to result in prices being higher than for a more compact population in a milder climate.
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An enormous country with a low population density that is almost all concentrated in the southern part of it.
Harsh weather? Not more than other countries with winter seasons, where prices are much lower than here.
You said the same exact arguments that keep being said by those three companies... We shall mark you as being a paid shill for one or more of these companies.
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Canada 3.4/km2
That is the average population density across the entire country which is 100% irrelevant.
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Russia has a population of 145 million. That's more than 4 times Canada's population. That brings economies of scale that lowers prices.
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Except that in places like Saskatchewan - where you have a provincial Telco - prices are *much* more reasonable and they still manage to turn a decent profit.
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Until our Premier sells off our Telco to Bell. :-/
Source: Live in SK. Always talk going around about selling off our government owned infrastructure.
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Yup. I think that recently happened to Manitoba.
http://www.newswire.ca/news-re... [newswire.ca]
No service here so it's cheap. (Score:1)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
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an enormous country with a low population density and harsh weather requiring more expensive equipment,
Are you talking about Finland, Sweden or Norway? Because I thought all of three of those low-population with harsh weather countries had pretty cheap mobile service.
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Finland 212 16
Canada 232 4
Finland and Norway has 4 times the population density. Sweden has even greater population density than Finland or Norway, Tim S.
an enormous country with a low population density and harsh weather requiring more expensive equipment,
Are you talking about Finland, Sweden or Norway? Because I thought all of three of those low-population with harsh weather countries had pretty cheap mobile service.
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It's because the calls last longer due to all the "aboooooooooot"s, "y'hoser"s and "eh"s.
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The majority of Canada's population is concentrated in the areas close to the Canada–US border.
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If you're going to make 150km be the standard for "close" (I would have considered it to be anything closer than 100km, as the crow fliies, personally... since things like terrain or great lakes that might force roads to not simply be straight has no bearing on the distance that a wireless signal necessarily has to travel), that still leaves about 12 or 13% of Canadians that don't live that close... and of those, about 85% of them live in just one of two Albertan cities, both of which are among Canada's te
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True... but there are somewhat long highways connecting them.
The above post only suggested that cellular service would only be needed along the Transcanada highway.
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"Rogers’ $25 a month plan, for instance, buys 150 local minutes, 50 text messages and no data."
Does it sink it, yet?
150 LOCAL minutes.
Only 50 text messages.
NO data.
And that joke of a service costs $25 PER MONTH.
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You used to be able to have 200 minutes for $20 on prepaid at Virgin mobile.
But then Bell bought out VM...
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Rogers once tried to charge us nearly $2000 for roaming data in Ft. Lauderdale. We had purchased a very expensive roaming data plan, but it didn't go through, so the cost was nearly $2000. The amount of data was primarily due to having the maps function turned on during three moderately short taxi rides. It was likely on the order of $5 to $10 per megabyte.
They have also muddied the competitive waters by creating a large number of fake shell cell phone providers to give the illusion of competition. Fido and
Re: $ or it didn't happen (Score:2)
On the other hand, I pay $15 a month for 3 gigabytes of data and no phone number. For calls my VoIP service costs me about $3 a month for my normal usage.
You don't actually HAVE to spend ridiculous sums for basic service; most people just don't know any better.
Re: $ or it didn't happen (Score:2)
I with they would jump in when I'm trying to place an order with Szechuan Palace. Could use a good interpreter.
So, it's in the middle (Score:3)
So, the summary says
As I see it, the phrase "among the top three" means: "third" (because surely if it was the most expensive or the second most they'd say that. First could, of course, also be labelled "among the top three," but you'd just call it first.) And there were six countries compared. So: Third of six is in the middle, not "some of
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you can skin a cat many ways. you can pick nits and split hairs.
this is where the rubber meets the road: i pay $115 for a phone + 1gb of data.
where i have to work, i don't have a choice. Let me know if you can find a worse plan than this, becuase AFAIK this plan "are some of the highest in the world".
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Sure, let's compare Rogers (probably the biggest wireless carrier in Canada) in Canada's most populous province to T-Mobile. I'll pick a plan with unlimited nationwide minutes and as close to 50GB of full-speed monthly data as I can get:
Rogers: 40GB for $225 USD / $290 CAD per month
T-Mobile: 50GB soft-cap for $70 USD / $90 CAD per month
How much can you get with Rogers for the same price as T-Mobile? $90 CAD a month gets you 4GB.
So as compared to the US, Canadians either pay 3.2x the price, or get 12.5% as m
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I've lived in both the US and Canada. US [everything] is no where near the cost of what I pay here.
FYP
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The secret is to buy a US plan and just have it roam constantly in Canada. Still cheaper.
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Really, can you provide a source?
I was a canadian citizen living in the US for years. I'd cross back into the US 4-6 times a month and hand a canadian passport while driving my connecticut plated car and using a connecticut drivers license becaues i needed it to buy my car and i let my Ontario license expire.
Never once had them ask me about the TWO US phones i had on me.
I still go back and forth often. in the last 10 years of crossing dozens of times i have only had one DHS guy ask about a phone. He foun
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They're not talking about the height of your mailbox you dumbass, they're talking about above-sea-level elevation.
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... is nullified when people keep stressing about going over their monthly smartphone quotas for voice, messages and data.
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Just use wireless, grandpa.
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In BC, it's $70 a month for a single person on top of the taxes.
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I am Canadian and it is real fact that Canada has stong pro-net-neutrality laws which are prime cause of expensive bills. If we were smart to kick out libtards we could end net nutrality and the deregulation is guaranteed to lower prices.
The fact that Canada has some of the highest prices around the world have been around well before net neutrality was a thing. While I'm all for kicking out the Liberals (for other reasons), I'll point out that a decade of Conservative rule has not changed anything in regards to pricing either.
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Found russian stooge. I'm "sure" you are anti-liberal and here is you defending net neutrality like a cuck.
This comment shows how low the IQ discussion can go on this site at times. Keep your nonsense to yourself dude.
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Re: Canadians need to be taught (Score:2)
Re: French tourists in Canada have a better deal! (Score:2)
Re: Not all the carriers fault... (Score:2)