Canadian Dollar’s Poor Performance Means Your Cell Phone and Internet Bills Are Going Up

Yesterday we told you that the loonie is so bad Apple has decided to raise the minimum price of apps for Canadians.

This is on top of cauliflower and celery now retailing for the same price as a pound of grass-fed ground beef ($7), and cucumber hitting shelves for the price of a ride on the TTC ($3).

What’s next, a tax on the air we breathe?!

Well, not quite, but pretty damn close – your wireless rates are about to increase.

Bell, Rogers, and Telus will raise the prices of their wireless, home phone, and internet packages starting in February. Most hikes to services – from Rogers’ Share Everything plans to Telus’ Smartphone and Premium Smartphone tiers and Bell’s Lite and Plus Share plans – will be in the range of $5/month. The changes will only impact new contracts and renewals.

Telus justified the move by explaining that the low Canadian dollar is pushing up the price of new equipment to build out its networks.

“The modest wireless rate plan increase reflects increasing costs for network components resulting from a weaker Canadian dollar, as well as the annual multibillion-dollar investments required to keep up with the growing demand for wireless data,” said a company spokesperson.

This is pretty terrible news for consumers, of course, given that Canadians already pay some of the highest telecommunications prices in the world. And without much competition – the three major telco companies own 89 per cent of the market – the only viable alternative seems to be living off the grid.

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