Cost of data plan in Canada (really bad)

kingTheod
kingTheod Posts: 170 ✭✭
edited March 21 in Break Room

hi there

We are all clients at Fizz bc we all want affordale calls/ Data plans

we all know Canada is a pretty expensive country regarding your phone plan.

it's actually the most expensive nation in the OECD club

of course, the oligopole led by the duo Bell-Rogers and in the lesser Telus keep prices skyhigh

well i found this ressource (from 2020) on visualcapitalist.com : ''what does 1GB of mobile data cost in every country''

you might be really surprised !!! here in canada we are truly squeezed out so badly !!

Fizz gives us some relief...but still rooms for improvement !

«134

Comments

  • Mataze
    Mataze Posts: 2,066 ✭✭
    edited August 2021

    Wow, it is crazy how expensive we pay here. It is unbelivable.

    Thanks for sharing !

    I might thinking about moving to india .. (0.09$ / 1 GB data ..). Or maybe not ahah

  • RyHi
    RyHi Posts: 150 ✭✭

    Just some thoughts....does population density play a part in this? Does the sprawling landscape make it more expensive to give coverage to individuals?

    Do we appreciate FIZZ? YES YES YES

  • StefanM
    StefanM Posts: 1,453 ✭✭
    edited August 2021

    I hope with the planned expansion if Vidéotron to other provinces, it will give a bit more competition. The sole problem in Canada is that Bell/Telus/Rogers control the market and have the political cover to do so. It was the same in Europe until the European Court of Justice ruled that MVNOs have to be allowed access, at no above market cost, to the networks of the big operators.

    As soon as the ruling came out, you saw smaller companies emerging, more competition and prices went down. The Big Companies were arguing the same as Bell/Telus/Rogers namely that opening their networks up would force them to neglect investment in infrastructure. All of that wasn't true, of course, and now they cannot even charge roaming fees within the EU anymore.

  • kingTheod
    kingTheod Posts: 170 ✭✭

    considering 80% of Canadians live near the US border, in urban centers, the network expansion has been already paid off years ago (remember the Access network fees...), this argument was previously used by the big telcos to keep such fees forever.

    Russia is bigger than Canada, but they pay far less than here.

    politicians dont have the will (=balls) to introduce more competition . big 3 are lobbying too much at Ottawa...

    foreign players seem not interested to invest in Canada : low population, large country, market locked by big 3, require massive investment, ROI insufficient, CRT under the big 3, over-protected market,...

    Quebecor may get licenses in Western Canada ..to become the 4th national carrier, thus Videotron may open services across canada and our mobile plan might work nationwide ? let's hope !

  • RyHi
    RyHi Posts: 150 ✭✭

    @kingTheod population of Russia vs population of Canada

  • Giantlaw
    Giantlaw Posts: 22 ✭✭

    Thanks for the food for thought

  • Pianotime
    Pianotime Posts: 48 ✭✭

    I remember visiting France and buying cheaper roaming in Canada than I can have here. It's absurd, thx for the link

  • kingTheod
    kingTheod Posts: 170 ✭✭

    you may have a point but....

    but large population doesnt mean cheap price. consider USA/Russia

    USA = 338 millions = $USD 8/giga

    Russia = 145 millions = 52 c/giga

    Israel = 8.6 millions = world's second cheapest at 11 c/giga

    there are many factors to explain such distortions, population itself not enough.

  • MathLaj
    MathLaj Posts: 22 ✭✭

    I traveled for a few years abroad, Cambodia, Vietnam and other "third-world countries" has their data so cheap (a few dollars for like 5GB) and the network is also really reliable, even in remote locations.

  • Saamenerve
    Saamenerve Posts: 81 ✭✭

    It is really frustrating indeed

  • Doomdrou
    Doomdrou Posts: 725 ✭✭

    This is a question that can’t easily be answered. Low population density combined with a huge territory is certainly one cause of the problem. Another answer would be the complete domination of the Big Three.

    However, Russia has quite a low population density and the largest territory on Earth, and their mobile fees are extremely low. On the other hand, the USA has a big population (and territory), but is dominated by their own Big Three (AT&T, Verizon and T Mobile), and have high relative fees (but lower than Canada’s).

    One factor that has been ignored is the mobility of the population. In Europe and Asia, the population is very mobile, meaning that they tend to travel a lot for work, leisure and life in general. The interconnection between people is extremely high. However, in North America, this factor is much less present, as our transportation networks as well as our communication networks are far from being as developed. People tend to stay where they are instead of being in constant movement. In consequence, telecom prices are much higher.

    However, I think the whole situation is improving, as plans are less expensive than they were 5-10 years ago. For example, I was paying 45$ per month for a 2 GB plan in 2014, while I am paying 45$ nowadays for an 11 GB plan. This is far from being Europe-level low, but it is much better than before.

  • kingTheod
    kingTheod Posts: 170 ✭✭

    **Quebecor to acquire Freedom from Rogers**

    Rogers to sell Freedom (former WindMobile) to Quebecor for $2.8 billions, hoping to get approval from regulator and competition bureau

    Rogers is currently in talk to takeover Shaw, spending a whopping $26 billions.

    to please gov official, Rogers is willing to sell Freedom to speed u

    interestingly, Globalive made higher bid ($900 millions) but Rogers declined and selected Quebecor : Globalive could be a threat on the long term in mobile business while Quebecor low mobile penetration in Canada (operate quasi mostly in Quebec) doesnt present a challenge.

    Canadian telco hate competition !

  • swatt
    swatt Posts: 3,393 ✭✭

    It is very expensive in this wide country.

  • Vasiok
    Vasiok Posts: 1,337 ✭✭

    Yes, Canadian Telecom companies hates competition and because the Canadian market is closed and there is no competition, the prices are so skyrocket!

    Unfortunately, I don't see any changes in the near future.

  • AlexV
    AlexV Posts: 7 ✭✭

    Yeah could not believe the price of mobile plans in Ireland when I got there for 3 months (bought a SIM and a 1 month "top up" plan and it was 50% cheaper for 3 times the features/speed).

  • kingTheod
    kingTheod Posts: 170 ✭✭
    edited July 2022

    a friend of mine who lives in France sent me his current provider : free (funny how French love English 😁!)

    check out yourself : free.fr

    a reminder how the big 3 crooks are robbing us

    it's insanely cheaper but it comes up with high-end features & services totally unavailable here including with the 3 big crooks (visit mobile and Freebox tabs)

  • RexNewton
    RexNewton Posts: 24 ✭✭

    Wow! A friend of mine told me her plan was way less expensive in France… But I didn’t know it was that bad in Canada! Thanks for sharing that picture, I am very surprised!

  • Andrei_ref_R7VK1
    Andrei_ref_R7VK1 Posts: 6,308 ✭✭
    edited October 2022

    Not sure why Fizz recently increased their prices for Mobile plans. Now for 35$ you can afford only 3GB of data (plus unlimited calls and texts) Canada coverage, while others providers (like Virgin, Koodo, etc.) give you 5GB for the same price.

  • telmorrr
    telmorrr Posts: 89 ✭✭

    RYAN RENOLDS NEED TO GET MINT MOBILE TO CANADA!

  • kingTheod
    kingTheod Posts: 170 ✭✭

    👆🏾👆🏾Mint Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator in the USA on the T-Mobile network.

    very unlikely they may open service in Canada.

    bell/rogers/telus will relentlessly pressure the fed to back down as they successfully did it previously (Verizon wireless)

    they don't want to lose their 💰🐄

  • Vincent C. #1748
    Vincent C. #1748 Posts: 34 ✭✭

    The problem is that the coverage area is very large in Canada and the population is low. Building the infrastructure and maintaining it costs too much for our usage

  • Claude J. #27154
    Claude J. #27154 Posts: 146 ✭✭

    Cant we just take an international plan from Europe? would it work?

  • magic_channel
    magic_channel Posts: 107 ✭✭

    Stay with Fizz. Best choice. Change your plan monthly based on your needs.

  • CJ Ref Code B43SA
    CJ Ref Code B43SA Posts: 288 ✭✭

    It's not something Fizz alone can change, this is decades worth of being overcharged for both phone and internet - it's just the telecom industry in Canada that gouged everyone.

  • Roxinie
    Roxinie Posts: 24 ✭✭

    Not sure there is something to be done, I also thibk that qc plans are a lot more expensive too than other regions. It's nice to be able to share data instead of always needing to buy extra or pay additional fees or penalties if we go over, the roll back are also very cool, 1 pay for 9 gigs dut almost always have 24 with the roll back ....there' a lot less worry

  • kingTheod
    kingTheod Posts: 170 ✭✭

    A quick sum up about the Rogers-Shaw saga....

    • Court to allow the deal
    • Quebecor to buy Freedom Mobile
    • very unlikely Freedom will operate in Quebec (Quebecor needs to expand its market out of his homemarket Quebec, not cannibalizing with Fizz)
    • very unlikely Fizz will operate further than the current network (Quebec only with Ottawa, On)
    • Since Quebecor will spend a whopping $2.4B, we hope its low cost division (Fizz) won't be affected (trimmed down services, rising costs, delay to roll out 5G, mobile app development etc..)

    A great move will be to allow Fizz clients to use Freedom network : a great perk but as stated previously, unlikely

  • SquikyBird
    SquikyBird Posts: 1,614 ✭✭

    Yes Fizz help to have better price when they have promo. Otherwise they still in the same price range then other provider. They have fidelity gift too.

  • Vasiok
    Vasiok Posts: 1,337 ✭✭

    That's just an excuse that big telecom are using. Check the case of Australi a;-)

  • Fei
    Fei Posts: 11 ✭✭

    This is 100% competition related. Don't believe any of the other bs reasons the industry experts give you. Until there is the political will to force the hand of the monopoly and allow for more competition nothing will change. But I won't hold my breath, since politicians with the power to do anything are all invariably spineless and in the pocket of the monopoly.

  • Pete
    Pete Posts: 219 ✭✭

    frustrating indeed

  • Davo47
    Davo47 Posts: 24 ✭✭

    one day they will do away with the monopoly I hope

  • Canada always behind the others 😥

  • Derr
    Derr Posts: 5,355 ✭✭

    At least we have Fizz to help us save up on data plans

  • FizzyFizz JQMPM
    FizzyFizz JQMPM Posts: 4,531 ✭✭

    The little story about population density and how vast Canada is are just complete BS!

    Once the infrastructure is there, there is no need of keeping the price so high.

    It's really time for a game change here!

  • Lolimo360
    Lolimo360 Posts: 15 ✭✭

    Thank you fizz!

  • Derr
    Derr Posts: 5,355 ✭✭

    Apparently, Canadian Radio-televisionand Telecommunications Commission is on it...

  • Jess_i88b6
    Jess_i88b6 Posts: 12,942 ✭✭
    edited March 2023

    En France https://mobile.free.fr/fiche-forfait-free 19.90 Euro pour 210Go en 5G, appels vers le Canada, données utilisable en Canada, appels VoLTE et VoWiFi, etc

    des Appels, SMS, MMS illimités depuis l’Europe et DOM vers les fixes et mobiles d’Europe, des DOM et de France métropolitaine et depuis les Etats-Unis, Canada, Afrique du Sud, Australie, Nouvelle-Zélande et Israël vers les fixes et mobiles du même pays et de France métropolitaine.

    Pas mal différent de la situation ici :'(

  • Derr
    Derr Posts: 5,355 ✭✭
  • Smilemars
    Smilemars Posts: 156 ✭✭

    Oh this is insightful, I think it’s political and some companies don’t have control over the prices.

  • Vasiok
    Vasiok Posts: 1,337 ✭✭

    Exactly!

    For us, people coming from Europe, the prices are insane!

  • FizzyFizz JQMPM
    FizzyFizz JQMPM Posts: 4,531 ✭✭

    Yeah! I'm from Italy and everytime I go back I use my Italian sim with a €7 40 Gb promo and I wonder how nothing is changing here in Canada

  • kingTheod
    kingTheod Posts: 170 ✭✭

    my opinion

    Europe: mostly heavily regulated market with state-led interventionism, a mix of State/Market capitalism

    North America: mostly free market enterprise, with little or limited government oversight,

    Consequences: more regulations in EU, less corporate grip in the overall market where consumers rights tend to prevail over business interests... quasi the opposite in North America !

    this could partially explain the massive gap....

    but we should not complain too much...EU have a massive energy bill, punishing tax system, a chronic high unemployment rate, rising populism/right-wing groups, lack of natural resources, immigration issues, etc..

    so our sky-high cell bill is "fine" 😜

  • Derr
    Derr Posts: 5,355 ✭✭

    That’s one way of seeing it!

  • neverwinter
    neverwinter Posts: 1,939 ✭✭

    This is an oligopoly, why decrease the price? Check the price for internet too.

  • Vasiok
    Vasiok Posts: 1,337 ✭✭

    Free market you say and the gouvernement don't interfere? Hmmm.... Then tell me, why the big telecom companies like T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Vodafone, Orange are not here?

    Thanks!

  • Vasiok
    Vasiok Posts: 1,337 ✭✭

    Exactly!!! And they have always the "excuse" with the density of population in Canada😂😂😂 LOL

  • neverwinter
    neverwinter Posts: 1,939 ✭✭

    Telecommunications is not a free market. You need to have a license released by the government.

This discussion has been closed.