The price is not right: Reducing mobile telecommunications bills in Canada

Over the past decade, the Canadian mobile telecommunications service market has grown at an exceptional rate, ultimately overtaking landlines as the dominant form of telecommunication. Mobile telecommunications has therefore become an essential service in the lives of most Canadians. However Canadian consumers continue to face some of the highest mobile service prices in the developed world. This study seeks to identify the principal causes of continued high mobile telecommunications prices in Canada, and to suggest potential policy solutions to lower service costs for consumers. This study involves a combination of expert interviews, secondary research, and case study analysis of the Australian, U.S. and Saskatchewan mobile markets. This study identifies high levels of market concentration as a principal cause, and recommends that mandated MVNO access be implemented to address high prices in the Canadian mobile service market.