Alec Saunders has a great post on the harm caused by Canada's uncompetitive mobile data rates.
Saunders on Canadian Data Rates
2 Comments
Recent Posts
Back-of-the-Napkin Cultural Policy: The Government’s $600 Million Streaming Plan Copies the CRTC Decision It Killed at More Than Double the Cost 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 282: Udbhav Tiwari on Why Signal May Exit Canada Over Bill C-22’s Encryption and Metadata Retention Rules 
From Making Web Giants Pay to Paying Media Giants: Budget 2026 Replaces the Government’s Internet Platform Strategy With $1.5 Billion in Taxpayer Dollars for Culture and News 
Has the Government Read Its Own Bill? What Three Days of House Debate Revealed About Bill C-34 Before the Committee Hearings Begin 
Surveillance By Design: Government Officials Say Lawful Access Could Reach Gaming Platforms, Daycares and AI Services
When I worked at a call centre that did outsource support for Sprint cell phone sin teh USA, a few years ago I found out that for $10/month Spritn customers coudl get unlimited data on their cell phones. Up here, 1.5 megabytes a month (barely enough to chat on IRC while on the bus to work every day) with Rogers was $15/month. Sucks be Canadian for wireless access. 🙁
Beyond the point
Based on Alec’s analysis, data rates in Canada have been set beyond the point of diminishing returns. It is priced above what most people are willing to pay, so they have a smaller customer base. Of course, this is good for the “average revenue per customer” number… not so good for total revenues.