Canada’s big three telecommunications companies have drawn the ire of federal politicians in Ottawa over their offers to provide lower-cost, data-only wireless deals that amount to half a gigabyte (GB) of data for $30 a month.
Bell, Rogers and Telus were asked by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to come up with low cost alternatives to their current talk, text and Internet plans in order to give cash strapped Canadians some financial relief. The CRTC has been scrutinizing Canada’s wireless cell phone plans since the majority of service providers in the U.S. began offering unlimited wireless data plans at comparatively lower prices.
In March of this year, the CRTC announced that it would ensure Canadians have access to cheaper, data-only wireless deals. The plans are meant to fill a void while the telecom regulator reviews a recent decision that effectively hinders smaller, WiFi-based, national discount wireless carriers from operating in Canada.
The CRTC asked the big three telcos — Bell, Rogers and Telus — to submit proposals for lower-cost, data-only deals on high speed 4G networks. But the response has underwhelmed the CRTC in Ottawa and consumers across Canada.
Both Bell and Telus have pitched a monthly plan offering 0.5 GB (500 megabytes) of data for $30. Telus also proposed a prepaid plan offering 600 megabytes (MB) for $30 a month. Rogers has pitched 400 MB for $25 a month.
After posting the proposals online, the CRTC has received more than 230 comments from Canadians and not one of them supports the proposed plans.
"It's a joke," wrote Jiashu Xiong of Burnaby, B.C. "Offering such a low number for such a high price is not going to benefit anyone… I would have data overages all the time."
According to a recent CRTC report, in 2016, Canadians used an average of 1.2 GB of mobile data every month — at least double what the telecommunications companies are offering in their lower-cost plans. The report also found that revenues from wireless data grew to $11 billion in 2016, an increase of 9.4% from 2015.
Meanwhile, according to a 2017 price-comparison report commissioned by the federal government, Canadians pay some of the highest prices in the industrialized world for cellular plans with data. Canadians typically pay more than double what Americans pay for comparable cellular data plans.
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