Canadians are not reaping the benefits of internet bargains because they fail to shop around, according to the Department of Industry. Blacklock's Reporter said the comment came in response to senators' concerns that consumer prices do not reflect the federal government's claims of significant savings.“People will say, ‘I hear you say there is a 26% reduction in plan prices, my bill didn’t go down 26%, what are you talking about?’” testified Andre Arbour, director general of internet policy at the industry department. “Oftentimes, frankly most of the time, the appropriate plan is there on the website.”“It’s just people have busy lives understandably and they haven’t actually entered into the marketplace to shop for a new plan. Oftentimes things are functioning reasonably well. It’s just a question of helpful support to the consumer to better take advantage of what is available in the marketplace.”Arbour's remarks followed criticism that actual charges do not align with federal claims of substantial savings on wireless plans. Sen. Leo Housakos (Que.), chair of the committee, expressed skepticism about the reported progress. “Every time we hear officials from the Government of Canada or the telecommunications industry they are always telling us how much progress we make,” said Housakos. “Yet the fact remains that when you look at analyses that are being done Canada is still paying seven times higher rates than Australia, 25 times higher than Ireland and France and 1,000 times higher than Finland.”Arbour argued that international comparisons can be misleading. “Statistics that can be quoted or cited that talk about multiple times higher are generally looking at outlier plans that are not chosen in the marketplace, very high usage plans, for instance a 100 gigabyte plan when the average usage is in the eight to ten gigabyte range. That’s not to say there isn’t an issue here but the issue is in the order of 30 to 50% more expensive.”An April 30 statement from the Department of Industry claimed “wireless prices have declined an average of 18%.” These figures were drawn from a department report titled Price Comparison Of Telecom Services.The report’s price comparison tables showed significant disparities. A basic wireless plan of 450 voice minutes per month with 300 texts averaged $423 per year in Canada, compared to $175 annually in Italy and $125 in France. Plans offering unlimited talk with 19 gigabytes of data per month cost an average $545 a year in Canada, versus $455 in Germany and $229 in the United Kingdom. Plans with unlimited talk and 99 gigabytes of data per month averaged $830 a year in Canada, compared to $568 in Australia and $432 in Italy.“Obviously we have to keep putting the pressure on,” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters on March 19. “Am I satisfied? No. But do I see it’s going in the right direction? Yes. Then we will continue to work.”A U.K. analyst from Cable.co.uk highlighted that North American internet costs are typically among the highest worldwide. Their comparison of thousands of price plans revealed that the most basic mobile service, one gigabyte of data per month, costs an average of US$64 per year in Canada. This is significantly higher than $72 in the United States, $42 in Japan, $28 in Sweden, $26 in Germany, $24 in Mexico, $22 in South Africa, $13 in Argentina, $8 in Egypt, $7 in the United Kingdom, $6 in Finland, $5 in Australia, $4 in Poland, $3 in Russia, $2 in France, and $1 per year on average in Italy.
