Falling telecom prices a positive sign, but phone bills still too expensive: experts

By The Canadian Press on July 19, 2023.

TORONTO – Industry watchers are hopeful that Canada’s phone and internet prices will continue to decline but say there is a long way to go when it comes to telecom affordability in the country.

Statistics Canada’s inflation data for June shows consumers paid 14.7 per cent less for cellular services compared with the same month last year, following an 8.2 per cent decline in May.

The federal agency attributes phone bill relief to both lower prices for cellular data plans and promotional pricing.

Gerry Wall, whose company Wall Communications Inc. publishes an annual report comparing Canadian phone and internet prices with those of other countries, says the data is consistent with trends that show the costs of telecommunication services in Canada have been declining in recent years.

He credits technological improvements that have made networks more efficient, and says more competition following the entry of Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to the national market through its purchase of Freedom Mobile could accelerate those declines.

Wall’s latest report released in February, which was prepared for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, found Canada still had among the highest prices internationally for cellphone and broadband service in 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2023.

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