Cell phone plan price increases are due to contract length caps: industry insider
Posted August 20, 2014 11:44 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Do you think you are being charged a reasonable rate for your cell phone plan? There is criticism that Canadians are paying more compared to people in other countries.
This stems from the federal government putting a cap on contract lengths last year. It was done to give consumers more freedom by not locking them in for a long time periods of time.
Bernard Lord, president and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, says the price increase is just a case of basic economics.
“Plans went from three years to two years, so the smartphone is the same cost as it was before and you need to pay that cost down in two years rather than three. That is why the price went up per month.”
Another common complaint from users is that you can get similar plans in Europe for a lot less.
Lord says we pay more here than in other parts of the world because Canada’s networks are quicker and more reliable. He says Internet service is very important to users across our country.
“Canadians use their devices to download data… about 75 per cent more than the world average.”
Lord says the best way to avoid a price increase is to buy your device outright and just pay for the service.
