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Price Comparisons of Wireline, Wireless and Internet Services in Canada and with Foreign Jurisdictions

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Price Comparisons of Wireline, Wireless and Internet Services in Canada and with Foreign Jurisdictions Price Comparisons of Wireline, Wireless and Internet Services in Canada and with Foreign Jurisdictions 2015 Edition March 30, 2015 Prepared for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and Industry Canada Wall Communications Inc. NOTE: The views expressed in this document are solely those of Wall Communications Inc. and do not necessarily represent the views of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission or Industry Canada. Wall Communications Inc. TABLE OF CONTENTS OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................... i 1.0 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... 1 2.0 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................ 3 2.1 Service Basket Design ............................................................................. 3 2.2 Canadian Price Data Collection ............................................................... 4 2.3 International Price Data Collection ........................................................... 6 2.4 Summary of New Additions and Updates ................................................ 9 3.0 WIRELINE SERVICE ................................................................................ 11 3.1 Wireline Service Baskets ....................................................................... 11 3.2 Canadian Wireline Service Prices .......................................................... 12 3.3 International Wireline Service Prices ..................................................... 13 4.0 MOBILE WIRELESS SERVICE ................................................................ 16 4.1 Mobile Wireless Service Baskets ........................................................... 16 4.2 Canadian Mobile Wireless Prices .......................................................... 17 Comparison of Incumbent and New Entrant Prices ............................................ 20 Incumbent Flanker Brand Prices ........................................................................ 21 Reseller or MVNO Prices ................................................................................... 23 4.3 International Mobile Wireless Service Prices ......................................... 24 4.4 U.S. Incumbent and Regional Service Provider Prices .......................... 26 4.5 Canada-U.S. Roaming Prices ................................................................ 28 Base "Pay-As You-Go" Roaming Rates ............................................................. 29 Add-on Package Stand-alone and Bundled Roaming Rates .............................. 31 5.0 BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICE ........................................................ 35 5.1 Broadband Internet Service Baskets ..................................................... 35 5.2 Canadian Broadband Service Prices ..................................................... 36 Reseller ISP Prices ............................................................................................ 38 5.3 International Broadband Service Prices ................................................. 39 5.4 International Rural & Remote Broadband Service Prices ...................... 43 6.0 MOBILE INTERNET SERVICE ................................................................. 47 6.1 Mobile Internet Service Baskets ............................................................ 47 6.2 Canadian Mobile Internet Service Prices ............................................... 47 6.3 International Mobile Internet Service Prices........................................... 49 7.0 BUNDLED SERVICES .............................................................................. 53 7.1 Bundled Service Baskets ....................................................................... 53 7.2 Canadian Bundled Service Prices ......................................................... 53 7.3 International Bundled Service Prices ..................................................... 55 ATTACHMENT 1 – SERVICE BASKETS ........................................................... 58 ATTACHMENT 2 – CANADIAN PRICE COMPARISONS .................................. 60 ATTACHMENT 3 – INTERNATIONAL PRICE COMPARISONS ........................ 66 Wall Communications Inc. Canadian and International Price Comparisons – 2015 Update OVERVIEW This is the eighth edition of Wall Communications' annual telecom services price comparison study. The individual services covered by the study include: wireline, mobile wireless, broadband Internet and mobile Internet services. In addition, bundles of these same services along with basic digital TV services are also included in the study. For each individual service category, prices are measured for a series of defined "service baskets" which have been designed to reflect typical Canadian low to high telecom service usage levels and features, including an “average” consumption basket for a typical Canadian consumer. There are two to five service baskets or "levels" defined for each individual service covered by the study. The lowest available advertised prices, as offered by the surveyed service providers included in the study, are used to measure the prices of each of the defined service baskets. For Canada, the surveyed service providers include the incumbent telephone companies (e.g., Bell and TELUS) and cable companies (e.g., Rogers, Shaw and Videotron), resellers (e.g., Primus and Teksavvy) and wireless market entrants (e.g., WIND and Mobilicity). Prices are measured in six metropolitan areas: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina and Vancouver. Aggregate Canada-wide prices are determined on a weighted average basis. For international comparison purposes, prices have also been measured using the same methodology for the same set of service baskets for seven other countries: Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the United States (U.S.). There are several new additions to this year's study, including: i) the expansion of the geographic coverage within Canada and the U.S. to include the cities of Winnipeg and Minneapolis, increasing the number of Canadian and U.S. cities covered to six and four, respectively; ii) the addition of a fifth mobile wireless service basket, which includes "unlimited" nationwide talk & text and 5 GB of data; and iii) the inclusion of additional reseller competitors in the mobile and broadband markets: PC Mobile and Teksavvy, respectively. The highlights of this year's price comparison study update follow. Wall Communications Inc. i Canadian and International Price Comparisons – 2015 Update Wireline Three service basket levels are considered in the case of wireline services: Level 1 includes low local and long distance call volumes, Level 2 includes average call volumes plus 2 features, and Level 3 has high call volumes plus a full set of features. Domestic Trends: This year, Canadian wireline service baskets prices have increased significantly. The Level 1, 2 and 3 service basket prices increased 4%, 9% and 8%, respectively, relative to last year. These increases are consistent with the historical trends in wireline service prices over the last five years which has seen Level 1 and 2 basket prices increase at average annual rates of 6% and 5%, respectively, whereas Level 3 basket prices have increased more slowly at 2% per year on average (i.e., at roughly the rate of inflation). International Comparison: Canada's Level 1 and 2 wireline service basket price rankings relative to the seven surveyed jurisdictions included in the study have slipped from being in the middle to now residing at the higher- end of the group. On the other hand, in the case of the Level 3 (higher- usage) basket, the Canadian average price continues to sit in the mid- range of wireline prices measured for the group of surveyed countries. Mobile Wireless Five service basket levels are considered in the case of mobile wireless services: Level 1 includes low local and long distance call volumes; Level 2 includes average call volumes plus 2 features and 300 texts per month; Level 3 includes high call volumes (but not unlimited) plus a full set of features, 300 texts and 1 GB of data usage per month; Level 4 includes unlimited nationwide talk and text along with 2 GB of data; and Level 5 includes unlimited nationwide talk and text along with 5 GB of data. Domestic Trends: Canadian Level 1, 2 and 3 mobile wireless service basket prices all increased significantly this year relative to last – i.e., by 4%, 8% and 7%, respectively. In marked contrast, the Level 4 basket price declined, dropping by 11% from roughly $93 to $83. The average price of the Level 5 basket is roughly $107 in Canada; however, since it is new to the study this year, its price cannot be compared to previous years. Average mobile wireless prices were generally found to be lowest in the cities of Winnipeg and Regina. Since 2008, the first year this study was conducted, the Canadian average price of the Level 1 basket has increased by total of 14%, whereas the average prices of the Level 2 and 3 baskets have declined by a total of 20% and 24%, respectively. Wall Communications Inc. ii Canadian and International Price Comparisons – 2015 Update Entrants' Prices:1 The wireless entrants continue to offer mobile wireless prices that are significantly lower than those of the incumbents – i.e., 29%, 26%, 37%, 39% and 50% lower for service basket Levels 1 to 5, respectively.
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