2011 Canada - Telecoms, Wireless, Broadband and Forecasts

Mobile market drives the industry's recovery

Buddecomm’s latest Canada Annual Publication, Canada - Telecoms, Wireless and Broadband, profiles the wireless (mobile) and broadband markets in Canada.

Canada’s wireless industry has experienced rapid growth since its inception in 1985, driven by advances in cellular technology, the deregulation of the Canadian telecom industry and significant switching from wireline to wireless services.

Following a decade of market consolidation, in early 2011 the wireless market remained largely dominated by Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility and TELUS Mobility. However, due to the federal government’s Advanced Wireless Services auctions in 2008, the prospect of increased competition emerged as a number of new entrants prepared to establish themselves as wireless service providers across the country.

Canada currently ranks 12th in the OECD for broadband penetration, down from second place in 2002. Canada’s broadband markets also continue to rank poorly in terms of prices and speeds. Nevertheless, government policy has encouraged widespread availability, particularly to rural and regional areas, such that approximately 95% of Canadians live in communities served by broadband access. 

Market highlights:

• During late 2010 and early 2011 four new mobile providers had launched services, namely Globalive’s Wind Mobile, newly created Public Mobile, Mobilicity and finally cableco Vidéotron’s Vidéotron. Meanwhile cableco Shaw Communications has stated its intention to launch wireless services in 2012.
• Whilst the presence of new entrants offering largely low-cost services and handsets may not have a sizeable impact on the overall market share of the likes of Rogers, Bell and TELUS (who collectively account for around 94% of Canada’s wireless market), the entry of the large cable companies such as Vidéotron Itee and Shaw Communications into the wireless market is more likely to pose a threat to that dominance.  
• In the broadband market, cable still leads DSL in terms of subscriber numbers, with DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades reigniting cable subscriber growth, whilst fibre deployments are starting to gain momentum.
• Following Barrett Xplore’s planned deployment of a nationwide WiMAX network complemented by a 4G satellite network, rural Canadians can look forward to faster broadband with higher bandwidth allowances.
• Following a lengthy review process, in May 2011 the CRTC announced a new target for ‘basic’ broadband access across Canada. The CRTC stated that by the end of 2015 all Canadians should have access to broadband speeds of at least 5Mb/s for downloads and 1Mb/s for uploads.

Note: Dollar amounts are in Canadian $ unless otherwise stated.

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.