A new report by IE Market Research Corp. (IEMR) called “1Q.2011 Canada Mobile Operator Forecast, 2010 – 2015” shows that Canada is poised to approximately reach 28 million mobile subscribers by the end of 2012 (an increase from 25.3 million in 2010). The report shows Rogers will continue to lead with 35.7% market share (10.5 million subs). Probably the most interesting takeaway is that they project TELUS to overtake Bell for the second place as the largest carrier with 27.3% market share (7,644,000 subs) and Bell having 27.0% (7,560,000 subs). For some reason IEMR doesn’t include Virgin Mobile in the Bell numbers so it might be a bit skewed.
The report also stated that “We expect the entry of new mobile operators such as Videotron and Wind Mobile to take greater market share away from Bell relative to Telus, given Bell’s stronger presence in Central Canada and the new entrants’ focus in that part of the country.”
For a perspective, at the end of 2010 here’s what the Canadian wireless subscriber numbers looked like:
Rogers: 8,977,000 subscribers
Bell: 7,242,048 subscribers
TELUS: 6,971,000 subscribers
MTS: 483,754 subscribers
WIND: 250,000 subscribers (estimated)
Mobilicity: 94,000 (estimated)
Public Mobile: 59,000 (estimated)
Videotron: 135,000 (estimated)
MTS/SaskTel/Bell Aliant: 1,055,000 (estimated)
Source: BusinessWire
