If you own a cell phone and use the internet, this probably won’t come as a surprise to you. According to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Wireless Matrix – the world’s bible on wireless research – Canadians pay the most in the entire world for wireless services.
$61.40 per month.
Our wireless spending is followed closely by our neighbours to the South, who spend $60.50 on average per month for their daily dose of cat videos. Switzerland is the third-most expensive country to be a wireless user, where citizens spend a relatively modest $48.80/month.
Sure, one could argue Canada’s a huge country with a small population, which makes it difficult for wireless providers to offer affordable and efficient networks from coast-to-coast. But according to the research, Canada’s carriers – Rogers, Telus, and Bell, essentially – also boast the second-highest profit margins at 46.2 per cent. Portuguese carriers, meanwhile, with the highest profit margins in the developed world, also offer the cheapest wireless plans at an average price of $14.60 a month.
Most shockingly, the combined wireless prices in three of the world’s most developed countries – Germany, Austria, and Denmark – add up to around the same we pay per month in Canada.
And if you think things will change soon, rest assured that they certainly will not. The average Canadian’s wireless bill increased by 5.6 per cent since the most recent study, compared to the developed world’s average of 0.5 per cent.