TORONTO – This week marks both the arrival of spring, and a jump in the price of most voice and data plans offered by the country’s wireless incumbents and their respective flanker brands.
Bell matched Rogers Wireless and Telus Mobility this week by increasing the price of the majority of its plans by $5 per month. Virgin, Fido and Koodo, owned by Bell, Rogers and Telus, respectively, all increased prices by about $5 per month earlier this month.
The price hike will help to offset the introduction of unlimited voice and text plans by all three incumbents last year, plans that include unlimited Canada-wide long distance, says one industry analyst. Dvai Ghose, Managing Director/Head of Research at Canaccord Genuity said in a note to clients Monday that “the shared nature of these plans should help boost ARPU (average revenue per user) and reduce churn over time, as seen at Verizon Wireless”, and added that he does not expect the increases to have “any real negative impact on churn or market share for any incumbent carrier”.
Ghose added that he maintains a “bullish view” towards Canadian incumbent wireless who have easily deflected competition from the new wireless entrants.
“Telus remains our favoured wireless vehicle driven by its industry best ARPU, churn, margins and lifetime revenue per subscriber, which means that it does not have to chase aggressive promotions for decent postpaid subscriber growth”, his note continues.
– Lesley Hunter
