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Why is mobile data in Canada so expensive? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

26 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I read once that we pay the highest rates for mobile data (or at least I think I did) in the world but I don't recall reading why. Maybe it had something to do with near-monopolies or infrastructure?

Are there any changes coming that may change this?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Because there are only 2 phone networks in Canada. If you are in the East you are on Bell, if you are in the west you are on Telus.

If you can't tell by now Bell and Telus are the best of friends and share their network with each other, but not Rogers. Rogers only has towers in major urban areas.

So now you have a duopoly, and they can charge whatever they like to you and their partners.

Thankfully regulation is slowly catching up. Currently they can't cap your data any more. Sure they will throttle your Download speeds, but the 25gb data plan is for 4/5G speed, after which its dialup levels of network speed for unlimited data.

It's not much, but when the alternative is surprise fees it is better than nothing. /s

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Rogers has lots of towers outside urban areas, you might be thinking of freedom. I get reliable service even when I'm out in muskoka

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Here on the east coast outside of urban areas Rogers doesn't work and you lose a connection easily.

I've visited communities who have to use Bell if they want to use cells and even then the service is dodgy

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Sask also has our own network, and it seems to help things a lot. Been a while since I've shopped for plans, but there was a time when the big 2 charged about 25% less in Sask because they had to compete with Sasktel. They've also got their own MVNO now, Lum Mobile, which is the first to have a vastly different pricing structure than the other options. Buy 3 month/1 year plans up front, and the data bucket is an until you use it thing instead of being a monthly bucket. For about $450 (including all taxes/fees) I've got my cell service paid for the whole year, and will probably still have some data left to carry over then.

Supposedly there's been some big discounts coming around with the newer MVNO's, but its hard to gain traction when people are so used to just walking down to the nearest carrier store for phones/plans, and often choose an expensive monthly plan over buying their devices up front.