(Toronto) The federal Minister of Industry says that despite data showing that the cost of telecommunications services has decreased in Canada, many Canadians are still not feeling the effects.
Speaking Monday at the 23rd Canadian Telecommunications Summit in downtown Toronto, Minister François-Philippe Champagne said he wants to ensure Canadians are aware of improved offerings in the market as their consumption of cellular telephony and the Internet are increasing.
“Our challenge is that Canadians feel it,” he said during a roundtable led by Canadian Telecommunications Association president Robert Ghiz.
“Sometimes my challenge is that the data says something, but people say, ‘What about my personal situation?’ “, he added.
“I know that a politician and a government will never declare that their mission is accomplished,” said Mr. Ghiz, whose association represents the industry’s operators and manufacturers. But will you at least take some credit for yourself, and maybe give some to the industry? »
Mr Champagne said he was pleased with the figures, which correspond to the latest package offerings on the market, but acknowledged they do not reflect the prices paid by those still using older mobile phone and internet packages.
“Cell phone and internet prices are an essential part of most Canadian families’ budgets and are a very expensive item. So people are rightly concerned – not just in Canada, I would say in different parts of the world,” the minister said.
“So, yes, we’re going to continue to push and make sure that we’re doing our part through regulation and otherwise, that Canadians see what the industry has done in terms of easier ways to shop around and change plans,” he continued.
In an interview, Champagne said part of the solution is encouraging carriers to proactively notify existing customers when they have the opportunity to reduce their monthly bill with a new plan available.
“We need to make sure that operators have plans that are tailored to the needs of different people based on their usage,” the minister said. “If all these packages are out there and there’s a feeling that people aren’t seeing them, it’s probably because everyone needs to do a better job of informing people about what’s available.”
Separately, a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, commissioned by the Telecommunications Association, indicates that the Canadian telecommunications sector spent $11.4 billion in capital investments in 2023 to expand wireless and broadband networks, representing 42.6% more per subscriber, on average, than carrier spending in the US, Japan, Australia and Europe.
In his speech, Mr. Champagne announced that the federal government would launch a consultation on how to expand wireless services using satellite technology.
Despite the money spent to expand networks, he noted that barriers to connectivity remain for people in rural and remote areas of Canada.
“This is the next generation where Canadians will be able to use their current phone, or essentially the next version of it, to be able to have absolute connectivity,” Champagne said.
With natural disasters on the rise, he said it would also serve as a form of grid resilience when traditional networks fail.
Some Canadian operators have already started exploring satellite connectivity.
Telus announced last year that it had successfully tested technology that allows smartphones to send and receive voice calls and text messages using satellites. The test was carried out in partnership with Montreal provider Terrestar Solutions and non-terrestrial network service provider Skylo.
Rogers Group has partnered with SpaceX and Lynk Global to offer satellite-to-phone connectivity, while New Brunswick-based rural internet provider Xplore has committed to offering satellite internet in remote locations last fall after the Jupiter 3 satellite was launched into space.
Mr Ghiz said it was “essential” that operators benefit from a stable regulatory environment that encourages investment to support high spending.
In a separate presentation, Quebecor President and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau argued that more regulatory changes were needed to promote competition and lower prices.
Mr. Péladeau, whose company expanded its Videotron subsidiary after buying Freedom Mobile last year, has committed to developing 5G networks across Canada in the coming years. In the meantime, the company is taking advantage of the CRTC’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) framework, which allows telecom companies to offer cellphone services through competing carriers’ networks.
The rules aim to increase competition in mobile telephony by giving regional operators a presence in regions they did not previously serve, with an obligation to build their own networks in these areas within seven years .
But Mr. Péladeau said Quebecor is being held back by “outdated” rules, such as those that allow major operators to offer services to their customers at a retail price lower than the rate MVNOs pay for network access .
“We’re not parasites and we’re not going to be on other people’s networks and do things that aren’t going to create value,” he said. The condition is to build, but before building, you must have access. We need to ensure that the resulting roaming charges will also go down. Otherwise, we will not have the appropriate conditions to continue to foster competition. »
