I laugh when I hear that Bell is donating 10 million dollars for mental health ... at the same time it is their bullshit that is driving people nuts.

Having lived in both US and Canada, it’s outrageous how high cellphone bills and how little these plans offer. I hope this episode brings this issue to more attention, thank you Marketplace!

I moved to Canada almost 3 years ago from Italy and I still remember how I felt after seeing the prices here. In Italy I had a phone plan that allowed me to have unlimited texts and phone calls + 50 GIGABYTES of data within Europe at 7.99€‎ a month (around 11.60 canadian dollars per month, taxes included). I really hope things will change soon!

Politicians refusing interviews with CBC is unacceptable.

I am originally from Canada and I have lived in 5 countries in 3 continents: Canada is the worst by a country mile in terms of telecom service and price. Whenever I go home, I am shocked by having to pay so much for so little. Equally shocking is how this has been an issue for decades and the CRTC has not figured it out yet. Canadians get gouged and the government plays the fiddle while the "big three" get wealthier and quality of service goes down.

Easy answer - greed. In Mexico I pay the equivalent of $12 cdn a month for unlimited calls to US, Can and Mex plus 5 gigs data. Eff Rogers!

As an international student who recently came to Canada, I was surprised by the high prices of phone plans here. In my country, I used to pay only $3 a month for a plan that included 1.5GB/day of data, even after the speed was reduced, unlimited calling, and 1000 texts/day. It's hard to understand why Canadian phone plans are so much more expensive compared to other countries. I hope that in the future, the prices will become more reasonable for people like us who are on a budget. Keep up the good work with the informative videos, it's really helpful for us to understand the reasons behind it.

You should do an episode on Enbridge gas. They were fined $250,000 for all of their issues, and are only getting worse with their price hikes, and refusal to check people’s gas meters. My bill went from $100/ month to $1000-$2000. It took me calling the Ontario Energy Board to finally get Enbridge to acknowledge their mistake.

The problem is NOT the BIG 3. The problem is the CRTC regulators by hiring a decision maker, Ian Scott, who has worked for Rogers Telecom (Call-Net Enterprises), Telus (Former Telus VP) and in 2019 met with Bell (Mirko Bibic in regards to appealing wholesale rates). Personally, I consider this a conflict of interest situation with money in there somewhere. The current government is permitting this. In fact the Rogers and Shaw merger needs the approval of the current government to REDUCE competition. No mention of Rogers on the status of preventing another network outage that affected Hospitals, debit payments, Fido (consumer level mobile), Rogers mobile (priced at a corporate rate) and Rogers internet. Why even have a CRTC when it is just words with no teeth

I'm originally from the US and when I came here my jaw dropped at this robbery that was happening in broad daylight. How can we pay higher prices for cell service than 3rd world countries? It's about time they did a piece on these greedy cell phone providers. The funny thing that most people don't know is when it comes to competition they all unite to make sure that no new competition steps foot in Canada. I remember Verizon was planning on coming here and they drove them out. The one thing that is really different here in Canada than in the US is the most Canadians don't stand up and fight for things like this they just take it and accept it. This is one thing I wish was different here. Going back to the US has been weighing on my mind for the last 6 months now.

This brings back memories of when I was in highschool. Was with Bell, and had "unlimited" texting. I learned the hard way "unlimited" wasn't actually that. There was a cap on it, that I surpassed and they tried billing me $1200 for it. I called and freaked, since I was just a highschool student and couldn't afford it. They agreed to refund it, I switched to Telus the week after.

As someone who has lived in the US her whole life, and as a cellular network enthusiast, this is one of the big things that would hold me back from moving to Canada. The US isn't great compared to places in like Europe, but it is at least better than Canada, although prices here are going up in ways as well, although we at least have unlimited offerings and cheaper limited offerings from MVNOs, some of which thankfully aren't owned by the main carriers.

The Competition Tribunal approved the Rogers-Shaw merger on December 29, 2022 while Canadians weren't paying attention. This means higher telecom bills and even less competition. Canadian industries that are oligopolistic include banking, telecom, groceries, media and engineering firms. This is a large contributor to Canadians' lower purchasing power and high cost of living. Sadly there is almost no political will for change.

Call it what it is. A monopoly. When the government takes away the monopoly and lets the competition in, maybe we can afford it. Cell phones are next on the list for all of us to quit using in order to survive. When it comes to food on table or expensive cell phone use, guess who's going to win. There is no reason for these monopolies, regardless of what rogers, bell and telus says. My vote is food on the table.

For nearly two years, I used a US number roaming in Canada, and it was cheaper compared to similar Canadian plans 🤐 I feel that last time we had a price reduce was when Verizon tried to buy Wind, when all big three stopped long distance charges.

Thanks for taking this to spotlight. I was in Canada for few months and searching for plan and could not believe the prices. I end up with myChattr prepay and data was only 2.5gb for the plan that I picked. It's way too expensive in Canada.

Cbc marketplace and this kind of investigative journalism is everything we need to promote. The greed of big business does not care about us. They are counting on our ignorance. LOVE Marketplace ❤ Just when I was about to take on Telus myself today….just in time.

Do internet and TV services next please! It's basically the same exact thing.

I used to work for a carrier. The low prices for the people switching over are only for new customers. After a period of time they will pay the new carrier the same price per month (or higher). My advice is first to not do leases or installment billing for a phone. Buy it outright. Second, let your adult age kids in university pay their own bills. And shop around for those bundle deals. Many of them are not really great deals in the long run.

Wireless phone rates are expensive in Canada due to weak consumer protection legislation. Unlike most other countries, our federal government doesn't prioritize defending Canadian consumers, choosing instead to protect established industries including telecoms, banking, forestry, dairy, and mining - to name a few.

I've lived on both sides of the US-Canadian border. What I found was that it was MUCH cheaper for me to keep my US number with AT&T's prepaid service while I was living in Toronto and just roam the entire time. I still had unlimited data for a flat rate of about $55 US, had no trouble with making calls. And, to my knowledge, none of my friends with Canadian numbers had to pay any additional charges to call or text me. I was also able to switch my phone's regionalization to Canada (allowing for things like Canada-specific apps) without any trouble while maintaining my US service. It's fairly common for US carriers to offer unlimited roaming (including for data) in Canada. AT&T never complained about all of my usage in Canada. If you have the opportunity to do so, and don't mind having an American area code, I'd suggest looking into that as a solution.

Competition isn't the only issue. There seems to be a lot of interest in the government to favour and protect institutional investors, like banks, and other financial and investment companies. They have a big role to play in all of this.

Marketplace makes some great and very interesting videos. Thank you! Also shocking to see as a Finn how expensive it is in Canada. Feel bad for you guys

Thank you Marketplace for this eye opening investigation. The CRTC really should look into it and have a control consumer protection. I also agree Canada has the more expensive plans in the world.

Worked at a Telco and then worked as an ombudsman for different telcos. I had to leave the industry entirely. It's disgusting what they can get away with and they have little oversight. When there are rules, they know exactly how to go around them or flat out break them. Money talks.

This is a very well documented video explaining the telecom industry in Canada and how corrupt its been for over a decade

Marketplace, I love you. Thank you for speaking up about these issues and making such great in depth and fantastic videos!

Good coverage, of an incredibly relevant topic!

It is so painful to use cellular services here in Canada... I'm mexican by born. When family and friend come to visit I'm so impressed by the way they use their roaming data from Mexico without even regarding their amount of use it.... When I'm in Mexico I'm afraid even to turn on the phone!!!

This will never stop. Market place will keep making such videos but next to impossible to turn the table. Big 3 are too powerful.

I used to work for 1 of the big 3. (Not in the Cell or cable or telco division) And the CRTC was a client of ours. There was alot of wineing and dining behind the scenes. I actually actually saw a pitch from an Egyptian company that was trying to get into the Canadian market. Someone told me that the CRTC mandates that only Canadian owned companies can apply.

You could've said "Telus won't tell us" at 19:29

8:19 This is so true. 20 years loyal customer gets 3 hours of call wait time...while a new prospective customer gets 1 minute and 38 seconds. There should be a law about having equal wait time.🤯

It's brutal, I was in Europe this past summer and I can't believe how much we get screwed.

I'm in the US, and my DL speeds are 20 mbps on an Unlimited Plan, I don't really have slow load speeds, my plan is prepaid and $65 USD a month, it also includes when I go to Canada for free, it's amazing that prices are STILL that high!

It's a big shame about the internet and wireless prices in Canada. I lived in multiple countries before coming here but never seen prices like this! First time after moving to Canada, I thought they were joking but it was a brutally true story!

CBC working on the real issues, thank you

Well. I needed a new phone. Bestbuy won't sell me a new iPhone without me signing a new phone contracts. I couldn't buy out the phone outright. My cellular provider won't sell me a new iPhone outright as well. I finally end up at Costco buying out a new phone out right. There might be a more clear transparency as to how much a third party makes signing up a contract with a provider. They are making money selling signing up contracts than selling phones. There are many third parties store in cdn doing that. The question is should the able to without being transparent?

Here in Australia we have a national phone and internet carrier called Telstra which owned most of our infrastructure before it was privatised. We also let in Optus, which is a Singapore based company, to build and operate more infrastructure. We now have many small cell phone operators who provide cell service, like Aldi the German supermarket chain, and Amaysim. I have been with both and paid $ 25 a month for unlimited mobile, landline local and national calls and got 22 GB of data and any unused data rolls over each month with no limit on rollover. I currently have around 523 GB of data in my account for use at the moment because i never use 22 GB each month. With both of them you can pay as little as $ 15 a month for unlimited local, national, and mobile calls and 3 GB of data with any unused data rolled over to next month unlimited. As far as dropouts or no service in certain areas with these 2 companies or any of the many others we have, it is almost non existent in rural areas and nonexistent in the cities and burbs. Australian mobile carriers have around 95-98 % coverage of the whole country. You Canadians are getting screwed royally, and if i was a Canadian i would be burning the house down until things changed.

The other day I called Rogers and their line said, "Your waiting time is appr 6 hrs". How ridiculous is that?

I am a Canadian who has lived in Laos for more than a decade. Just so you know - I get 35GB of data for less than $3.50 (USD). Also when I have a problem - I have people on the line ASAP to deal with it.

In fact, in Canad it sometimes even cheaper to use Internet in roaming rather than switch to big 3 plans :)

American here. So we have 4 large carriers and MANY, like HUNDREDS of smaller providers. You can get a US phone with any US area code, and unlimited US, Mexico and Canada calling. The downfall is that anyone calling you would be calling long distance, but if you're okay with that, $40 for 2 people and $10 to $25 more for each other line up to 10 in some areas.

Don’t forget, if your with TELUS and pay using credit card, they’re charging you an extra 1.5% fee on top of your total bill including taxes as a credit card processing fee now.

When I worked for Bell TV they told us that the reason the costs were so high was because of satellites that they had to put up but the thing is Bell Telephone was initially funded by the government during war times, thus the people paid. Also, the Satellites Bell put up were compensated by the Government from what I understand. I now live in another country and pay under $9 for my husband's plan and under $17 for mine which includes free coverage for some apps.

I visited Canada from New Zealand and was sooooo shocked at the Price of a basic plan in Canada

Great episode

I live in Asia and i pay 13cnd a month, with 4G unlimited and reliable internet usage. It used to be a little over that but bc i dont do phone calls i asked the company for a discount. Canadian prices are unbelievable.

We need Mint Mobile (US carrier, Ryan Reynolds owns part of them) to be allowed to come to Canada. These are the types of small companies that help foster competition and lower prices for consumers. They aren't bloated massive behemoths who have been feeding at the troughs of Government and Consumers for decades. I joined Wind several years ago and it was great (never had an issue). I ended up switching to Rogers a couple of years later, but have since switched back to (as it's known now) Freedom Mobile. I've never had any issues with them (in terms of service, billing, pricing, etc.) and their rates are quite a bit less than the Big 3 (or have been). I am not sure how the takeover (Shaw or Videotron?) will change things.

This is a great show. Hopefully this will wake up more people and politicians.

When I lived in Europe, the costs of a cellphone plan were ridiculous low in comparison to Canada, granted this was before Data was such an integral part of a phone plan, though I know it'd still be way better than it is here. I switched to Wynd/Freedom years ago, I'm also with a smaller ISP company for my internet at home, I was so tired dealing with the big 3 having dealt with them each over the years. It'd be nice if our governments (Liberal/Conservative doesn't matter) actually cared for it's citizens to get us fair competition. I'm so tired of the excuse of big country, Australia has had better pricing for ages.

There isn't any real competition in Canada due to the oligopoly of the big three. I'm really concerned about the Shaw/Roger deal, as Shaw owns Freedom Mobile. The Competition Tribunal approved the deal on December 29, 2022. Freedom Mobile will be sold to Videotron. Consumer prices usually rise after business acquisition. I switched to Wind Mobile (now Freedom) 8 years ago and I hadn't switched back. If you were in the coverage area, Wind Mobile was amazing choice when it entered the competition over 10 years ago. It had everything unlimited for around $40; comparing to the competition at that time, huge overage fees for less than 2gb of data and 100 minutes for $60+. Now, none of the competition have overage fees for data which I believe we got Freedom Mobile to thank for. We need more competition. After MTS was sold to Bell in 2017 and since there is no other real competition, Bell rose back its prices and MTS prices in Manitoba.

I am still on a Plan From Wind Mobile it Became Freedom Mobile 29.00 Unlimted Data and Local Calling I'll never change plans

This is a show we need more of

I own a company that regularly interfaces with Bell and Rogers in regards to providing network services for clients. We are continually facing all manner of incompetence and deliberate obstruction by the big three. Their installers regularily mess up clients alarm systems simply because they don't care, necessitating a costly service call on our part to repair our clients service. Rotating IP's on Bell services will routinely mess up a clients network unless we install a fixed IP network behind their modem. Good luck trying to interface with them regarding providing alternate small company services in spite of their being a mandate for them to do so. This has been going on for years with no resolution, and competing companies have simply learned to work around these deliberate obstructions, albeit at vastly expensive costs to us. Bottom line, the big three simply don't give a damn and will use all of their means to frustrate competition. That is a FACT...

I left Canada last fall, best decision ever! To give you an example, in Thailand, I got a plan for 3 months, with 100 GB data per month with unli texts and calls locally. Cost? 21.90CDN for the the entire 3 months! And this is just the start! Canada is out pricing itself!!!

I learned this week after calling them multiple times and having to escalate the situation that Telus contracts are one-sided. When consumers breach contract, we get penalized. But if they sign a contract with you and weeks later they realize the phone is out of stock, they'll send a simple text and ask you to call (and wait 45+ minutes) and pick a new phone but they can't honour the boxing day sales (time I renewed my contract). The representative even said they're allowed to cancel agreements based on phone availability. Yet a week ago, the one agent had no problem selling and confirming the phone was available and signing a contract. So their mistake, but consumers get penalized. We need more competition. Hoping with marketplace shining a light on this topic, we'll get more competitors in Canada 🤞🏼

I had Rogers ignite in this house, and trying to get a lower price took 10 phone calls, some call backs and a 10 dollar reduction. So I told them Dec 28th was their last day in this house. I went with VMedia and I am paying with one exception, half of what I was paying for Rogers Ignite, the exception is I now have free calls continent wide for 4 dollars more the Rogers charged for Canada wide

Remember when they tried to block AT&T from coming to Canada? They said “oh they only care about the market, what about the country area?” Yet they’re doing nothing about it. AT&T decided to go to the UK instead. This was around 2014 or so.

The worst thing about cell plan pricing here on top of the outrageous prices to begin with, it how quickly the cost/GB goes up when you try to get a smaller plan. I'm currently with Bell, but have switched from both Rogers and Telus over the last 2 years due to spotty cell coverage where I live in Victoria. Where I work, I can only reach a Telus tower (which they also share with Bell) but in another part of the city, Telus/Bell have poor coverage and Rogers is solid. I wanted a base plan from Rogers for city-wide coverage, and a dual-SIM with either Telus or Bell to use at work, or vice-versa and I would switch to Rogers in the spotty area of town. All 3 providers offered the same base plan that I wanted: 20GB for $50. Still expensive compared to international rates, but it was the best valued plan that gave me the actual 5GB that I really need. But when I tried to get a small data plan for my dual-SIM from any of the providers, something in the range of 2 or 3 GB, they all quoted plans starting at $30 for 1GB or $40 for 3GB!! They all offer a talk/text only with no data for $15, so they're essentially charging $15 for the 1 GB of data. With the same logic applied to the 20GB plan, that's $35 for 20GB of data. Volume pricing works for physical goods because there's often a labor savings involved when dealing with 1 item vs 100 of the same item. But data is virtual; there's no physical component, so why the volume pricing, and why such a steep increase for low quantities? Most volume pricing schemes involve discounts of 10 or 20% when you buy more. Comparing $15 for 1GB to $35 for 20GB is a discount of 89%!! At same value pricing, the 20GB plan should cost $300, or the 1GB plan should cost $16.75 ($15 for the talk/text plus $1.75 for the 1GB). And speaking of physical costs, the other odd thing is that the Big-Three all charge $10 for an eSIM, but getting a physical SIM either in store of mailed to you is free?? The other discovery I made during this journey was that there's virtually no "data-only" options for cell-phones. A Roger's rep suggested I get a tablet-style data-only plan from Telus or Bell for my second SIM, but a Bell rep told me that's only available for tablet SIM's which don't work in cell-phones, and can only be provided as an add-on plan to an existing cell-plan. If you try the tablet SIM in your phone, it either won't work or you'd get charged a ton due to roaming fees or incompatible device fees, or something to that extent. I then asked about the data-only plans used for pocket-WiFi (Mi-Fi) devices, and was told that's a 3rd type of SIM and also can't be used in phones!! *insert face-palm here* I eventually found a Bell-sub-subsidiary provider, Lucky mobile, who offers a data-only plan for cell users. Their offer: 500 MB of data at 3G only for only $15/month, lol. This is the best we can do on the West-Coast unfortunately. It really pisses me off that users who only need small data packages so they can browse the web and check Facebook get absolutely gouged compared to heavier data users. 2 or 3 GB of data should cost less than $10/month based on the price points of the higher plans.

I’m paying $100 plus tax for a 80 GB data with unlimited talk with Rogers and I recently travel to Srilanka and got the same plan with a provider in Srilanka. For the same plan with 100GB of data I’m paying $15 (3,500 rupees). Even this plan includes unlimited UKposts, Facebook & WhatsApp. Definitely the cell phone plans are very expensive in Canada.

Excellent reporting.

Ministers and deputy ministers should not be allowed to decline reasonable media requests for interviews in the public interest. Unacceptable.

I ❤️ this show. You guys do a great job 👏👏👏

I see similarities with internet packages as well. I used to be with Rogers cable and in the past I used to negotiate the price to match competitors and last time I tried they refused. The best they would do is a 75mbps line 105 bucks a month plus tax. I ended up switching to a competitor for the same package for 65 bucks a month. After I switched they called me no less than 5 times a day for 2 weeks asking me to come back to Rogers with them saying they will match the same price after I already switched. I didn't switch back as I already gave them a chance but they refused to budge till it was too late.

In my town just 45 minute north of Toronto bell and telus offer service but it is terrible unless you are directly beside a tower. Rogers has towers all over our town which basically if you have bell or telus in our town you're screwed for service.

I live in the US and things aren't that much better here either. They are a bit cheaper but as soon as T-Mobile bought Sprint out all 3 remaining major networks increased their prices. The main networks de-prioritise service quality on the MVNOs & resellers like MetroPCS, Simple Mobile, etc.

Heck yes marketplace let's goo ❤️

It’s about time to flood the gov’t. with complaints. I mean FLOOD it. If enough people complain, then they will HAVE TO listen & start reacting & doing something about it.

Excellent video, as a newcomer in Canada, I am in shock.

Thanks for this video, this is an ongoing problem in Canada. As an above average Canadian consumer in Toronto, I have to say some of the problems are user issues. Pricing is high, but most people do not have the time or the skills to bargain. The Telcos take advantage on this. The only person that got a deal on their plan, was the Rogers customer. He was knowledgeable and had the patience. Rogers is also better at making deals with their customers, but they have more users and more problems with their network. Bell is the hardest to get a deal with, but they have the best network (wireless and wired). Telus is in the middle. The Bell lady example, she got a deal, but she did give up the first day and had to build up her confidence/patience to call back a second day. The Telus man example, just didn't have the skills to bargain and negotiate over the phone. The Big 3s play an unfair game, but it is up to us as smart consumers to do our part and play a similar game. Just like car insurance companies. It is always a good thing every couple of years to get a quote and chance providers.

I wonder how many Canadiens are calling up there cell phone providers, and asking for better deals after watching this broadcast.

I'm sure Roger's buying shaw will make it better 🤣

I'm glad I live in Ottawa. Because we're close to Quebec (Gatineau), we have access to Quebec plans. I currently pay $39 for 20GB with Virgin. I don't need 20GB but it's the best deal I've seen in a while. I remember my first data plan (in 2014) being $44 for 500mb with Fido

Unfortunately, Canada is one of the most corrupt systems, yet no one really talks about it. Most Canadians are too good (naive) and simply can’t imagine it. Construction, supermarkets, telecom, healthcare, …. Just sad.

Welcome to Canada, where consumers have little to no protection rights and politicians deflect with empty songs and dances with "investigations" and how they "have the consumer protection in their best interest in mind" and "how they are working to help the consumer" and so and and so forth - year after year and Government after Government - the same song and dance with no changes - and this applies to so much more than just mobile plans. On the topic of Canadian mobile plans - some 15 years ago, I was with Bell, I signed up for a $50 per month plan back in the days of "free evenings and weekends", made 99% of my calls in the evening and on weekends and they billed me over $400. I called them up, asked for an explanation, and they said they "reviewed" my plan and changed it (without notifying me) to a plan that was "better suited for my needs". Took a while, but I got them to change my plan back and refund me my money. A couple of months later, they did it again. Cancelled the plan and went elsewhere. Fast forward 10 years, I went back to Bell, got a 6GB plan and every single month, I would end up going over my data plan or very close to it. After the contact expired, I switched to Virgin, got an identical plan with 6GB (for less money) and am still using the identical phone and even though Virgin is Bell, I have not once even come close to using all of my data in the 6 years I've been with them. The big 3 are crooks, they know it but they don't care because they know that there is absolutely zero recourse for them.

In Japan. I pay $10 a month. You don't have to pay more than $30 for unlimited data. Phone calls are priced separately.

This is so timely, and long overdue! Having recently returned to Canada from Europe, I was shocked by the 10 fold prices for any type of plan and/or data package. How about unlimited 4G LTE and 500 Minutes to any number, all for 15 dollars a month?

My monthly bill for Bell was $62.00 for the longest time for 10 GBS. They kept bothering me to change the plan, but on one call, they mentioned my current plan wasn't available. Therefore, I needed another plan that cost me $89.00 for the same 10 GBS, which is ridiculous.

Would you have any video . Related to those markets with final sales experience when a food product has been re packaged and missing elaboration day or expired date . 😎🤜

In CanAada everything is so damn expensive than US for no reason. The salaries don’t match up to US but everything is expensive than US.

This is why I use pay as you go phone plan. I load like $25 in there and I can use it for half a year. Each call and text costs me $25 cents. But there are free wifi everywhere so I always wait until there are wifi at home or in store to reply to texts and call family and friends for free. Apps like WeChat let you call for free when you have wifi connected.

When you want to do renegotiate your plans / services, put all the providers in your area on a conference call, and let them hash it out. It's hilarious to watch them scramble as they try to beat each other, and I've never had it fail to secure me custom rates.

I left Rogers because I was done with their practice. I was always promised a lower price and I asked is this before or after tax. They always said after. So when I got my bill I see that it is before taxes so after everything was added I paid more. I was done. Switched to another company

In Malaysia, I pay equivalent of 11 Canadian Dollars per month for Unlimited local calls + Unlimited Data.

I'm still paying $35 + tax for unlimited data and I'm with Freedom.. trick? BYOD and stick with one telco for more than 10 years. Freedom would love to have me on a new expansive plan but they don't have the control. The moment you get a phone from telcos, you're hooked.

Why are Canadian phone plans so expensive? 1) Canada has a massive landmass to cover, which is really expensive to set up the infrastructure required. 2) Collusion, there are 3 big companies that own and operate every service provider; Telus, Bell, and Rogers, if they all agree to not drop their prices they all make more money. This really isn't that hard of a question to answer.

I’m Australian. We also have three big Telcos. Telstra, Optus and Vodaphone. Here, you can buy and own your phone outright from, say, Apple. These phones are not locked to a Telco, but I think if you buy a mobile from Telstra it’s locked to Telstra and no other SIM card works. You can also buy a phone and SIM card from a Telco on a contract. The monthly price varies depending on the phone and package. But the good news for Aussies is that there are second-tier service providers that offer bare bones online only prepaid sales of SIM cards only for a much cheaper service. My service uses Telstra wholesale for $AUD30 ($CAD28) a month unlimited phone calls and texts, with 32GB data, the unused portion of which rolls over and is banked to a max of 500GB.

You all in Canada have overseas customer care with your cellphone carriers?

The heads of the CRTC all need to all go to jail for corruption, no parole. The fact so many come from telecom companies suggests even more collusion and kickbacks. Send them all to max security and seize their net worth.

I'm from France, i use my french cell phone plan here, my french cellphone plan includes 30Go of data in canada, i pay 9.99euro a month, and perks of this i can change cellphone carrier coverage depending where is am, i can switch to telus network or bell or...

Finally someone is exposing this scam. Thank You. Govt must go after these big three tele companies.

Rogers used to be the worst customer service, but now they are the best. I tried switching to Bell, I did; Rogers gave me better price and implementation. Bell still cant let me cancel after a month without any hook up

Geez. This episode is making me feel bad for paying 5 canadian dollars, for unlimited txt/calls and 50 gigs of internet in Romania.

Did you even checkout the cost in India ? I believe that should have been included in your research. It has one of the most reliable networks with plans not heard in the western world. 3GB/Day is a meagre 7 CAD per month! 3GB/Day is 20 CAD for 3 months. 50 CAD per year for 2.5GB per day.

Sounds like internet in rural areas. There's one or two options unless you go to Starlink, and usually you only get a quarter of the speed you pay for, and can't even get on a lot. Once place I was at would only let you on if no one else on the street was watching a movie. At it used to be that you could only get Rogers service, or go as close as you can to the next province to try and get a Telus or Bell tower, but then they put one closer. I still can only get 3.5G most of the time, where I get 5G at my house in the suburbs. If I weren't on a business plan, I'd probably be paying twice the price. My mom did the $100 a year from Superstore thing, and they've even stopped that, adding on extra fees. She only uses it once a week on an old phone I used to use (before it started overheating on me when I'd use data, Kyocera is very hit or miss), so she only needs maybe 60 minutes a month and maybe 20 texts. $100 a month vs mine at about $600 a year, vs most plans being $900+ a year! It doesn't make sense. I only use maybe 3GB on my plan. It used to be 6, then went up to 30, so why do I pay for all that unused stuff? Thankfully I'm on shared so it does usually get used by those on the road more often, but it's wild how different it is.

Canada has lost the plot...health care in shambles..monopolies everywhere...highest taxes...FAIL

Fido, before it got absorbed by Rogers was the cheapest.

Prices have crashed 50% if you bring your own phone now about a year since this has aired but we probably are still one of the most expensive. 35gb for $30 unlimited txt/phone and $40 gets you 75gb. You have to buy bring your own phone though as the cheapest plan with a phone is like $60 + whatever they want for the phone which is $10-30 more a month + cash down for flagships.

Here in Romania we have only 4 providers: Orange, Vodafone, Telekom (T-Mobile) and Digi. Still for unlimited national coverage and 40GB I pay €5/Mo tax included (because I use an online cancel-at-any-time plan) with Vodafone.