I live in Canada and we pay a lot for our cell phone data. In fact, according to recent stats, we are the most expensive in the world. Looking at it on a graph, we are way out there and no one else is even close.
Why?
I’m not sure, to be honest. Maybe it’s because it’s tightly regulated and there are really only 3 top tier providers. Sure, we have “discount” carriers, but if you do any digging, they are simply re-selling the top tier services, and in some cases, they are subsidiaries of a top tier company.
Now, I know that it costs money to build out cell network infrastructure and the incoming revenue should cover those costs with a decent profit left over. That’s how our system works. No one is going to consistently operate at a loss.
My complaint is that we are so much more expensive than every other country – not even close. Look at that graph and you’ll see that Canada is way, way, out of step with every other country. If someone else were close, it might make more sense, but we are many times more expensive than every single country.
I don’t get it.
Is it because of our size? More infrastructure needed for less population base? Maybe. It’s true that much of our country is underpopulated. Still…
I use a so called “discount” provider. I have my own phone and pay $75 a month. That includes unlimited, anytime calling and texting across Canada, plus 15G of data. If I go over (even a little), that’s where things get crazy.
As if $75/month wasn’t expensive enough, if I go over, I am charged $10 per 100M of data! 100M is nothing. Visit a few websites and you’ll reach that 100M in no time.
So, basically, I pay $100 if I am over by a gig. That is less than a one hour video. Unbelievable.
This has 2 benefits for the provider. If I go over, they make a huge profit on what is really very little data. If I am careful to not exceed my 15G, then I never really get the full 15G for fear of running over. They always get a half gig or so every month minimum (my safety buffer).
And for the months I don’t really need anywhere close to 15G, well it’s all reset at month end and anything you have left is forfeited when the data resets to 15G for the new month.
Why not let me carry some over so I can use it on heavy use months? I’m not saying to keep it for a year, but maybe for a month or 2. It’s data, not electricity or heat. Once the physical infrastructure is in place, what does it matter if I sandbag a few extra gig? I’m not using any more, just deferring it for a future date. I’m paying for 15G, so I should get 15G, no?
There is the argument that the system can only handle so much and if everyone got to roll over their data, we would crash the equipment. Really? Maybe a server or transmitter might work a bit harder and use a little more power, but what is that compared to what we pay every month?
What a racket.
Ordinarily, I would’t complain. I mean, think about what you’re getting for your money. Instant access to all the information in the world. Maps, reviews, weather, news, the list is endless. Compare that to years ago. Just the ability to use Google Maps instead of the fold up paper map of yesteryear is a treat and is almost worth it.
It seems that we get okay value for the money until you look at other countries. How do they do it so cheap? Even the US is many times cheaper than us and we are essentially the same society.
Are we being taken advantage of? From first glance, it would seem so – unless there’s a factor that we are not aware of.
But for the life of me, I can’t figure out what it is. We are identical to every other modern, western society and they all seem to be able to provide reasonably priced cell data. Even much poorer countries kick our butt when it comes to speed, cost, and so forth.
The only thing I can think of is population density. That is really the one thing that’s different. Who knows?
Anyway, /rant
