OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canadian families spent over $190 each month last year on their communications services as the costs for wireless, TV and Internet services all grew at a rate higher than inflation, 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 released the report in three parts. The first focused on the country’s broadcasting sector, and the second provided data on the telecommunications sector. With the publication of the third and final part, the full edition of the report is now available.
In 2013, the average Canadian family spent $191 per month on communications services, a 3.2% increase from $185 per month in 2012, reads the report. Household spending climbed by an average of $1.54 to $53.56 per month for cable and satellite television services, $1.91 to $69.33 per month for wireless services and $4.42 to $35.37 per month for Internet services. Spending on home telephone service dropped by $2.01 to $32.85 per month.
Higher spending on wireless and Internet services can be attributed, in part, to the fact that Canadians are using more wireless data and subscribing to higher broadband Internet speeds. The prices of telephone, television and Internet services rose between 1.6% and 3.7% in 2013, while inflation was 0.9%.
Cable and satellite companies reported a profit margin on earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 42.2% for their television, Internet, telephone and wireless services. This was an improvement over a profit margin of 41.1% in 2012. Similarly, wireless companies reported an EBITDA profit margin of 43.2%, compared to 40.7% the previous year. The profit margin for wireline companies decreased from 41.1% in 2012 to 40% in 2013.
Total revenues for the Canadian communication industry reached $61.9 billion in 2013, a 1.9% increase from $60.8 billion in 2012.
After comparing key indicators in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Australia, the report found that Canada had the fourth highest penetration rate for fixed broadband Internet and the seventh highest for mobile broadband.
“With the publication of the final part of the Communications Monitoring Report, Canadians have a comprehensive view of the state of the communication industry”, said CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais, in a statement. “All participants in the communication system—including citizens, creators and consumers—will find this data useful. We encourage them to use this information to contribute to our public proceedings as we work to ensure Canadians have access to a world-class communication system.”
