Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada has suggested Canadians consider switching service providers to beat price hikes on wireless services.
The federal department shared the statement with CBC News following MobileSyrup’s reporting that both Rogers and Bell customers had been informed of price hikes for various services.
The statement differs greatly from the words Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne shared with the publication earlier. “Let’s be clear, while some progress has been made to lower prices, Canadians still pay too much and see too little competition,” Champagne said in his statement.
The two statements came just “hours after” each other.
If you’re asking why it should be the consumer’s job to find such plans given the government’s repeated promises to address the issue, you’re not alone.
At the end of their note to CBC, @ISED_CA said “Consumers could consider switching service providers and taking advantage of prices in the market…” and proceeded to quote StatsCan.
This was in the same email chain where @FP_Champagne said “Canadians still pay too much” (9/x)
— Anis R. Heydari (@RadioAnis) January 6, 2024
Keldon Bester, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project, argued switching from one mobile plan to another isn’t always an easy task.
“The people that need these affordable services the most are not the folks who can sort of leisurely be on the phone with Bell for an hour trying to negotiate a better contract,” he told CBC News.
Another difficult aspect is finding a good deal, as there often aren’t that many to choose from, especially post-holiday season. The task can be made further confusing depending on the way a provider markets a plan.
For example, at the time of writing, Telus-owned Koodo has labelled a $50/60GB 5G plan on its website as a “promotion.” It’s unclear how this could be given it replaces a $50/75GB plan.
CBC News further notes the price hikes from Rogers don’t break the conditions of its $26-billion transaction with Shaw. ISED didn’t subject the company to lower prices as it did for Vidéotron’s acquisition of Freedom Mobile.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: CBC News
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