What a beautiful, reliable network we have! Our carriers have put together one of the best communication networks on the planet and we’re taking advantage of it by spending around $40 Billion a year. So, what’s not to like? Perhaps it’s the oligopoly and we’re charged way too much for service. I admit I’m somewhat negative of our carriers even though, compared to other countries, we’re pretty advanced:
- Canada has the highest wireline penetration (99%) among OECD member countries[1]
- We have 25,086,000 Internet users which represents 74.9% of the population[2]
- 74.3% of Canadian households subscribe to wireless services with over 99% of Canadians having access to wireless services [2]
- Approximately 8% of Canadian households reported having a cell phone but no landline in 2008. This is a more than six-fold increase from 1.2% in 2001.[3]
- From 2001 to 2009 overall telecom services price increases were below CPI (around 1.9% per year).
