OTTAWA–GATINEAU – With wireless service networks now accessible to 99% of the population, more and more Canadian households are dropping their landlines, according to the 2014 edition of the CRTC’s Communications Monitoring Report.
The report, released Thursday, provides an overview of the Canadian communication industry for the year ended August 31, 2013. This year, the CRTC is releasing the report in three parts. The first, about the country’s broadcasting sector, was released earlier this month, and the third part will be released in October with data on international comparisons, the National Do Not Call List and consumer spending on communication services.
The report also found that the adoption of smartphones and tablets continues to rise. Over 62% of the population owns one of these devices, and 39% of Canadians use tablets – an increase from 2012, when the percentages were 51% and 26%, respectively.
In 2013, 90% of wireless service subscribers were the customers of one of Canada’s three major providers (Bell, Rogers or Telus), but the market share in terms of revenues for wireless service companies competing with the Big Three rose from 6% to 8% between 2012 and 2013. In 2013, the percentage of Canadians with access to fourth-generation wireless networks (LTE or long-term evolution) increased from 72% to 81% in a year.
The percentage of households that subscribed to Internet services remained stable, from 79% in 2012 to 80% in 2013. However, the percentage of subscribers with download speeds of 5 Mbps or more increased by 5% reaching 67% (including satellite services) in 2013. The market share of small service providers competing with the three major providers in Canada increased as well, from 9% in 2012 to 10% in 2013.
The availability of Internet service with a download speed of 5 Mbps per second or more rose from 82% of Canadian households in 2009 to 94% in 2013. Monthly rates varied widely by province and whether the area was rural or urban. With the exception of the territories, the least expensive monthly fee for a 5-Mbps broadband service varied between $25 and $49 in urban areas and $32 and $55 in rural areas.
“The second part of the Communications Monitoring Report addresses the state of the Canadian telecommunications industry, and contains data that could be of great use when we initiate our hearing on wholesale mobile wireless services”, said CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais, in a statement. “With over 28 million subscribers and representing 46% of the total revenues of telecommunication services in Canada, wireless services are the core of the Canadian telecommunications system.”
Other highlights from the report include:
– The number of residential telephone lines dropped by 6%, a decrease from 12 million in 2012 to 11.2 million in 2013.
Internet
– In 2013, broadband availability for residential services (excluding satellite) was 97% nationally; 100% in urban areas and 84% in rural areas;
– The average number of gigabytes downloaded per month by residential service subscribers increased by 57% between 2012 and 2013, rising from 28.4 to 44.8 gigabytes.
Revenues and expenditures
– Telecommunication service revenues increased by 2%, reaching $44.8 billion in 2013;
– The revenues generated by the wireless service industry grew to $21.2 billion, a 3.8% increase over 2012;
– The revenues generated by the Internet service industry grew to $8.1 billion, a 7.1% increase over 2012;
– The revenues generated by the wireline voice communication industry dropped to $10.6 billion, a 4.5% decrease from 2012;
– In 2013, telecommunication companies allocated $9.2 billion to capital expenditures for maintaining, improving or expanding networks.
