According to the findings of a CRTC commissioned Wall Report, Canadians are paying a little less for high-end wireless mobile plans and a little more for entry-level plans than other countries. This annual report covers wire-line, mobile wireless, mobile data and broadband data pricing across multiple service providers, such as Rogers, Bell, TELUS, WIND, Mobilicity, Public Mobile, etc. Pricing in Canada came from five metropolitan areas: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Regina, and Vancouver. International comparisons, based on the same set of services came from: Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the United States (U.S.).
The ‘service baskets,’ as they call them, were broken down into four levels. Level 1 includes low local and long distance calling. Level 2 included average call volumes, an addition two features and 300 texts. Level 3 includes high call volumes, a full set of features, 300 texts and 1GB of Data. Level 4, which was added for the first time this year, includes unlimited nationwide talk, texting and 2GB of Data.
For wireless service, the Level 1 prices were the highest in Canada, averaging $35.70 per month. This was quite a bit higher than second place U.S. at $30.34 per month. The U.K. dropped in at third with a rate of $26.46 per month. The cheapest was Italy at only $10.85 per month.
Level 2 pricing shuffled the players around quite a bit – with the U.S. the most expensive at $55.91 per month, followed by Japan at $50.98 per month. Canada came in third place at $45.26 per month followed by the U.K. at $41.17 per month. The cheapest was again Italy at $33.61 per month.
Level 3 does another shuffle – Japan comes in as the most expensive at $139.90 followed by the U.S. at $91.52. Canada comes in third at $79.69 and the U.K., Australia and Germany are almost tied in fourth at $72.14, $72.10 and $71.15, respectively. The cheapest country is France at $63.68 per month.
Level 4 has the U.S. as the most expensive at $109.28 per month, with Canada in second place at $92.99 per month. Australia comes in third place at $84.85 a month and the cheapest is the U.K. at $58.37 per month.
As for roaming charges – another concern for many Canadians that travel to the U.S. on a regular basis – the report confirmed that the new entrant wireless carriers are much cheaper than the incumbents are. For instance, Roaming Voice with an incumbent cost $1.48 per minute, while the new entrant only charges $0.23 per minute. Roaming Data costs $5.67 per month while the new entrant only charges $1.04 per month.
Check out the full report on our source link and compare the pricing for wire-lined accounts, bundled packages, broadband and more. You should find it all very interesting if you are from Canada or the U.S. or the U.K. – when we pay out our hard earned cash for communications, it always amazes me how much the prices vary among carriers. Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and let us know what you pay a month and if you think you are paying over the average…as always, we would love to hear from you.