It costs more in Canada to use a cellphone than any other G7 country, a new study shows.
The report was written by Nordicity and published by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on Thursday.
- Read the full report on the CRTC website
Nordicity looked at the cost of telecommunications services in Canada, compared to the other G7 countries: the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.
They compared costs of fixed telephony, mobile wireless service, broadband internet, mobile wireless internet and bundled services. The average prices in Canada were determined based on figures from Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina and Vancouver.
The study found that Canada ranked highest among all seven when it came to the price of mobile phone service, at an average of $41.08 for a basic plan including 150 minutes.
According to Nordicity, the average U.S. plan of the same size is only $27, while it falls to $17 in Italy and Germany.
When it comes to premium packages, like those with unlimited minutes, Canadians come in second at $231.99. Residents of Germany pay more, at about $284. However, Nordicity did not provide data for three of the seven countries (Japan, France and Italy).
A group that represents Canadian telecom companies like Bell, CTV's parent company, said Canadian service is better and faster than those in other countries. The networks also cover an area larger than France, Italy, Spain, Germany and the U.K. combined.
Canadian consumers ranked second or third in most of the other categories looked at in the study, but they do pay the lowest rates of all seven when it comes to landlines.
With a report from CTV Vancouver's St. John Alexander
