The Liberal party is still working on cutting down the price of Canadian wireless bills by an average of 25 percent over the next two years.
In a recent interview with the Canadian Press, Navdeep Bains, the government’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry said that he received this mandate in December and will be aiming to lower prices by 25 percent based on what they were then.
Bains was also told to use “all available instruments” to make sure that this happens over the next two years, according to CP’s interview.
The CRTC published a report during the summer of 2019 that outlined how far Canadian prices dropped between 2016 and 2018 which is a two-year time span like the government’s plan. From 2016 to 2018 the cost of a wireless plan dropped around 28 percent.
What is hard to tell from these statistics is how much data was considered normal then, as opposed to now. For instance, in 2016 I was using roughly 5GB a month (and always going over), but now I sit at 10GB and often hit that cap as well. Both plans also cost me similar amounts of money.
What I’m trying to say is, people are slowly using more data in their daily lives. While 5GB of mobile data has gotten substantially cheaper over the last two years, people need to use more data, so they’re paying the same prices.
It will also be important for the government to mandate costs at 5G begins to roll out over the next few years. There’s no telling if these plans will become more expensive compared to existing 4G offerings.
While lower costs are important, what needs to be key in these deliberations is making sure that Canadians are paying a fair price for average data plans.
During the Canadian Press interview, Bains told the government that the government is waiting on a broadcasting and telecommunications legislative review to see how MVNOs can help increase competition in Canada and ideally lower prices.
MVNOs are mobile virtual network operators that licence access to Bell, Rogers and Telus’ networks to give users access to those networks, but through a new carrier like DotMobile or PC Mobile.
Source: CFJC Today
