A price drop for Canadian phone and internet services last month has some observers optimistic about the downward trend, but industry watchers say there is still a long way to go when it comes to telecom affordability.
Consumers paid 14.7 per cent less for cellular services in June compared with the same month last year, following an 8.2 per cent decline in May, according to Statistics Canada's latest inflation report released Tuesday.
He added that the entry of Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron to the national market through its purchase of Freedom Mobile from Shaw Communications Inc. could accelerate those declines. That move was a requirement of Rogers Communications Inc.'s April acquisition of Shaw imposed to ease competition concerns surrounding the merger.
He noted a 33.3 per cent drop in cellular service costs over the past three years, according to StatCan data. "Our rates are still astronomical compared to what people are paying in other countries," said David Soberman, a marketing professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.
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