Let’s Celebrate: Wireless Penetration in Canada Hits 60%
November 14, 2007 by Mark Evans
Filed under Business
According to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, there are now 19.3 million wireless subscribers in Canada, which means the national penetration rate is now more than 60%.
The CWTA – the lobbying arm for the wireless industry – breathlessly reports that Canadians are among the most enthusiasm users of wireless voice services with monthly usage of more than 400 minutes. Of course, what the CWTA doesn’t mention is that the 60% penetration rate is pretty sad compared with the U.S. (more than 80%), and Europe where most countries have penetration rates of more than 90%.
The Canadian wireless industry likes to suggest the reason penetration lags the U.S. is the industry was launched a couple of years later than south of the border. That may be true but it would also help if there was intense competition between Canadian carriers (Telus, Rogers and Bell). It was also disappointing to see Virgin Canada’s decision to jump into the long-term contract arena, oddly abandoning a core pillar of its growth based of not binding its customers into contracts – something Virgin describes as the “The Catch”
Canada is a very different beast for connectivity growth from European nations. Firstly, the cost of building coverage for a widely distributed population in highly variable territory is different from Europe. Where you might have x-hundred potential customers for every square km of coverage in Europe, you have x-tens in Canada’s more sparsely populated terrain.
Also, it’s worth noting that wireless growth in Europe was helped along by the fact that at least in the UK, local calls incur charges.
While I’m happy to see Canadians ditching wires more, it’s kind of an apples to oranges comparison to hold it up to current use in Europe.