U.S. study cites Canada as a global leader in wireless service value

A U.S. study commissioned by a lobby group for the country’s wireless communications industry notes that Canada is a global leader in wireless value.

The study looked at competitive regulatory regimes and saw Canada rank first among other G7 countries and Australia.

“The country with the highest value proposition in this peer group is Canada with a country ratio of 0.967, implying that prices in this country are some 4.3 percent lower than the average price that the peer group would charge for the same mobile value proposition,” the study noted.

Further, Canada ranked second in terms of average mobile wireless download speeds with 64.4Mbps. Norway ranked first with 65.4Mbps. The United States was at 36.2Mbps.

Following the release of the study, the CWTA, which represents companies that provide wireless products and services in Canada, highlighted the findings of the study.

“This report confirms what many Canadians already know to be true: that the value offered by our mobile wireless industry is unmatched among its peers, ahead of even the United States,” Robert Ghiz, the CWTA president and CEO, said in a press release.

Interestingly, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada released the 2019 Price Comparison Study that outlines Canadians pay a lot more for wireless services than other G7 countries.

Further, Innovation Minister recently told MobileSyrup that “based on the data we have, we see that we pay some of the highest prices in the G7, and we see that prices should go down and must go down.”

Bains recently revealed the government’s plan to reduce mid-range phone plans by 25 percent within two years. If the target is not reached, Bains will look into regulatory measures to increase competition in Canada, which could include mandating MVNO access.

The U.S. study examined a total of 1,554 rate plans of 213 mobile operators in 36 countries and examined prices, network quality and plan characteristics.

Source: CTIA, CWTA