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So true. I still can't find the iPhone in most retail outlets (the first time I saw it was on a trip to New York last summer). Is it even here yet?

No way, people are still importing the phones from the US, cracking them open to 'unlock' them. This Blog www.iphoneincanada.ca has some information about the Canadian release of the iPhone and some videos about how to crack the US phones in the meantime. So shady.

When it does hit Canada, it looks like Rogers will get it. If only because Apple isn't releasing a CDMA version, meaning Bell can't carry it. And since less competition in the telecommunications industry means higher prices for consumer, this is nothing more than another story of the wonders of anti-competitive practices in Canada... don't get me started

I was out of Canada for a while (the better part of the past 5 years), living in South Korea, but I visited most of Asia. I kid you not, cell phone technology over there is at least 10 ahead of here.

This is a true story. In 2004, I went back packing through the the Philippines. I landed on an island called Boracay. It must have been paradise on earth 10-15 years ago, but now it's a bit "touristy". You know, a few resorts, restaurants, even a night club. Not exactly pristine, but still very poor when you walked through the villages. I stayed there about 3 weeks and made friends with a young couple from there. They both worked at a local restaurant that caters mostly to tourists. They both had cell phones that were better than 99% of the phones I see people using on the streets of Halifax today.

I don't know what the telecommunications companies of North America and Europe (crappy phones in Germany too) are doing, but the government should get involved. Like Thomas Friedman says "The world is getting flat....are we're falling behind."

Hey Cory, thanks for your response.
I totally agree, it's so backwards that some developing countries can afford to have better technology than we have in Canada. But I really don't think more government intervention is the answer, actually I think intervention is what got us into this mess:

The government currently limits the Canadian cell phone industry to a handful of providers: Rogers, Bell, Telus... etc. Now, a market in which a small number of companies control the production of a good or service, is pretty darn close to an oligopoly. For a change, I'd like to see government step out of the market and cut out all that market interventionism that is interfering with free-market economics!

Opening the market up to foreign cell phone providers would increase the supply of cell phone services in the market, forcing Canadian companies to compete for their customers' business!
This would almost definitely lead to lower priced plans and cooler technology.

Ah, the invisible hand!
-Econ geek

Kate,

Great post - something that has been on my nerves for a while now! How is Canada supposed to stay on top of the world in terms of innovation and technology in a flat world if we are 10 years behind developing countries when it comes to our mobile market?! ESPECIALLY, when what's happening in Silicon Valley, here in Toronto, and in all the technology hubs around the world is telling us that mobile is the way of the future!!!

In the Rogers/Apple discussions, it's highly probably that Apple is the party refusing to allow the iPhone into Canada. We all know Apple is about integrating products seamlessly into our lifestyles. The iPhone will never be successful (and Steve Jobs will never allow the iPhone into our market) if in the back of our minds we are counting Megabytes and worrying about that bill at the end of the month.

In China, I pop in a SIM card and away I go - caller ID, voicemail, call waiting - for peanuts! And NO contract. How North American of us to spend more money than we have, for something we don't have yet - ie cell phone minutes for the next 3 years of our lives. When people are now switching jobs every 3-5 years, and the average 40 year old will have had 14 different jobs in their lifetime, how can someone possibly know what their situation will be 3 years from now?!?! It just seems so ancient!

I'd love to see a blog post about the "7.95 Service Fee" that Canadian mobile companies charge. While many people believe it's a government fee, it is actually just another way the cellular companies charge for 'service'.

The blog is awesome, keep it up!

Kev

Government de-regulation has to happen. Look what it did in the US back in the late 90's. Prices fell by something like 50% in most states.

What's this about a $8 service fee? That's down right criminal!

Alright, time for the resident (part-time) cell phone company employee to chime in here. You'll be happy to know that the airwaves ARE opening up (a 40% chunk for new entrants) to more competition. In May of this year the bidding takes place, which will likely include Quebecor, Shaw Communications and MTS. The following article, posted yesterday actually does a good job of breaking it down.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/03/11/tech-mts.html

I welcome this. I pay for my services just like everyone else, even if I do happen to work for one of the "Big Three". Now, about the System Access Fee! I would also like to see this go away. It has nothing to do with the government. It is charged by each provider, with some a little more expensive than others, but they all hover in the $7-$9 range.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/services/cellphones/accessfee.html

There is a class action lawsuit (http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/258049)in the courts at the moment to abolish this. Do you know how much it sucks to tell someone the "plan" is $20 per month but there's also $8.95 System Access Fee and $1.18 911 fee? It's $10 more than what they think they're gonna pay.

Now, the iPhone, Kevin is absolutely correct that the Canadian market can not work with such a device until our data plans reduce in price. Mind you, they've gone down in cost DRASTICALLY in the past year, but they're still not where they need to be in order for the iPhone to be integrated into our lives. Counting MB's is a pain. All the fun stuff requires high data usage.

I've had customers tell me that they were in places like Egypt and had better cell phone rates than we have. I wholeheartedly welcome more competition. Wow, I'm writing as much as responses as on my own blog. This is fun!

Love the blog Kate!

I am also pissed about this and want cooler phones for my hard earned money! I couldn’t help but notice that the topic has triggered some interesting discussion and maybe even some potential for controversy. I, of course, have to throw in my two cents!

There are some major problems with the state of wireless competition in Canada, not the least of which is the blatant abuse of market power by our three dominant carriers.

Nick: Great observation noting that the competitive landscape will soon change as a result of the wireless spectrum that will be set aside for new market entrants. I am in favour of intervention of this type despite the fact that some critics have pointed out that it will substantially reduce the revenues that could be attained in a spectrum auction (read: less money for the government to spend on other priorities like health care, education, etc.). More players in the market should lead to lower rates over time and more options for consumers. I do, however, have doubts that this will happen quickly (i.e. while I am a student and could use the savings).

On the subject of the iPhone and other anti-competitive practices:

I personally believe that the iPhone’s non-existence in Canada has less to do with Apple more to do with our carriers. (Woops – no need for the plural there since Rogers is the only option for this GSM device, as Kate has noted). A WiFi enabled device that allows users to access the net to check e-mail, chat with friends and read the news from any standard wireless network – like the ones blanketing campuses all over Canada, presents a major threat to a company whose business model seemingly relies on extorting absurdly high usage fees from Canadians.

Brief rant on system access fees:

Agreed. This $6.95 system access fee on my latest phone bill and the $0.75 “Enhanced” 911 Access Charge ought to be disallowed (quotes added for emphasis). Telus’ web site indicates that the fee covers a number of costs, many of which appear to be standard operating costs! Have these people never heard of a cost of doing business? If my $6.95 is covering operating costs, I would sure love to know how the other $45 that I hand over each month is being allocated! The CRTC or Competition Bureau would do well to address this.

(On a side note: The irony of throwing around terms like oligopoly and discussing abuse of market power on the web site of a major Canadian financial institution is not lost on me!)

I'm responding to Cory's comment. I came here to Canada in 1994 from Indonesia. Before I left my homecountry, cellphones there were tiny and flat enough to fit in your shirt pocket. Some of the flip-phones were even the size of pager. Battery life on those phones lasted a good week on one charge with a reasonable enough talk-time.

I remember arriving in Canada and wanted to purchase a cellphone for University. It was a thing of prestige at the time and they were bulky in size. Battery life was ridiculous (I had to charge every 2 to 3 days). Cellphone technology here is definitely 10 years behind. Don't be surprise trekking in some Himalayan highlands and bumping into a monk riding his donkey with a cellphone far more superior than yours you're holding right now.

For anyone interested in the upcoming bid to allow other competition in the Canadian wireless market, I stumbled upon a couple of short pieces over at Profectio that shed a little light:

http://profectio.com/does-canada-need-another-wireless-provider

and it appears that Halifax's Eastlink (already my competition in the other job I have) has submitted an application:

http://profectio.com/will-eastlink-be-canadas-next-wireless-provider

Over on Nathan's blog, we got into a discussion about prepaid cell phone and using dial-around services to make calls incoming.

http://blogs.rbc.com/rbcp2p/2008/03/im_still_getting_ripped_off_bu_1.html

It appears that the company I mentioned as an alternative to the one Nathan was using has thrown its hat into the ring. Globalive (http://www.globalive.com/), which has the Yak brand, seems to be in the running now.

I, for one, am excited to see what competition brings. And sure, as Gavin suspects, it may not be FAST changes in the cost of our current services, but as I've mentioned above the price of our data plans has dropped a ton in the past 12 months (even the past 6-7 months) and it has to do with The Big Three trying to keep up with each other. Since Yak offers some really good deals right now, I wonder what they could do with more resources.

you don't really need a cellphone, it won't decrease your quality of life...you'd be surprised.

Don't need a cell phone? I think most students ONLY have cellphones. I haven't had a land line for the past 2 years and it definitely would have changed my quality of life to NOT have a cell phone.
I resisted getting a cell phone for a long time (while I was still living at home) but I think the reality today is that it really WOULD diminish my quality of life if I didn't have one.
As much as I hate my cell phone, I rely on it for all kinds of important things: calling my family, my friends, my work. My house got flooded last month and luckily I was only a phone call away.

Smoke signals and carrier pigeons might be more fun... but I really can't live without my (annoying/expensive/reliable) cell phone

I couldn't agree more, Kate. I haven't had a landline in almost 3 years. It makes no sense to have both for me, and it certainly wouldn't make sense to ONLY have a landline phone. Even my intercom to buzz people into my building is attached to my cell. So if someone comes to my apartment (friend, delivery person) I can talk to them from wherever I am. I get emails and Facebook stuff (I know, it's not NECESSARY, but it sure is convenient) sent to my phone and text messages are also crazy convenient for so many situations.

I wish it was the case that not having a cell phone wouldn't decrease the quality of my life, but I think it would. The lives we lead, yeah, it certainly can affect them. Getting my emails and Facebook stuff all day means I don't have to log into computers to check these things. I even know when my paystub comes to me, because I get the email on my phone. While it is unfortunate that we are so dependent on cell phones, I think we're beyond the point of simply going without, unless we move out of this lifestyle.

Considering I work in the cellular industry, I see more and more parents coming in to get their children cell phones. Sure, we'd like to think that there's no reason to do so, but it makes sense much of the time. The world we live in now is not the world we lived in when WE were kids (that's more years ago for some of us than others).

And that's all I have to say about that...

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