No issue with Canadian wireless pricing: telecom execs

TORONTO — Executives from Canada’s biggest carriers defended the country’s wireless prices during a panel discussion Tuesday, saying there is no problem with how much service costs in Canada, despite both the federal government and the CRTC zoning in on affordability as an issue. CRTC chairman Ian Scott said during a speech at the same conference a day earlier that Canada hasn’t performed well on retail pricing, while Innovation Minister in Navdeep Bains proposed a new policy direction this spring with the explicit aim of making internet and wireless service more affordable. Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Telus Corp., said during the regulatory session at the Canadian Telecom Summit that 33 million Canadians have cellphones. “Classic economics can tell you that is not a pricing problem,” he argued. Woodhead said that “it’s like one day I woke up” and out of the numerous telecom policy objectives currently in place, “somehow price has become the sole item that’s on people’s minds.” David Watt, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Rogers Communications Inc., made the argument that prices have actually dropped, because customers are using up 30 to 40 per cent more data each year. “They are getting a price decrease per unit of consumption. To think that you can get an absolute price decrease is frankly not realistic,” he said. Watt added companies have to fund investments in networks as they move into 5G, which will cost billions. “I think people have unrealistic expectations. I think that the sticker price can come down, but you just don’t have the same quality of network, consume 40 per cent more a year and do the other socially useful things that we want to have done in terms on rural and remote, and ... 5G.” BCE Inc.’s senior vice-president of regulatory Robert Malcolmson also pointed to the quality of networks. “It’s an expensive business to be in. It’s an expensive business to build facilities. And we’re also asked to do a lot by the government,” such as funding the CRTC’s $750 million rural broadband fund. Spectrum costs in Canada are among the highest in the world, he added. “The prices are competitive and we have the benefit of countries that are willing to invest in Canada,” he said, bringing up the example of Bell’s share plans, which are currently offering bonus data that boosts the regular 8 GB for $75 plan to 14 GB, and its Lucky Mobile prepaid brand, which offers 8 GB of data for $50 a month at 3G speeds. Watt said there are an “enormous variety” of plans currently available in the Canadian market, with some as low as $15. “Nobody in this country couldn’t afford a $15 plan. Now they may not like their $15 plan because they really want the attributes of a much more expensive plan, but that is certainly available to them,” he said. — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

No issue with Canadian wireless pricing: telecom execs

News | June 5, 2019

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No issue with Canadian wireless pricing: telecom execs

News | June 5, 2019

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