OTTAWA-GATINEAU – More and more Canadians are subscribing to broadband Internet and wireless services, while TV and radio are still the most popular devices for accessing content, according to the CRTC’s latest Communications Monitoring Report.
The report, released Thursday, provides an annual overview of the Canadian telecommunications and broadcasting industries. By the end of 2010, approximately 9 million Canadian households subscribed to broadband Internet services, an increase of 9.2% over 2009, and the number of Canadians subscribing to wireless services grew by 8.5% to 25.8 million.
“It is encouraging to see Canadians taking up broadband Internet and wireless services in such large numbers,” said CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein, in a statement. “This not only signals a strong participation in the digital economy, but is also a clear indication that Canadians are increasingly using a variety of platforms to communicate and access content and services.”
Driven by newer services, revenues for all telecommunications services grew by 1.8% between 2009 and 2010 to $41.7 billion.
The report found that 77% of the 13.4 million households in Canada had an Internet subscription, with many subscribers preferring higher download speeds. The percentage of households with an Internet connection with download speeds of at least 1.5 Mbps jumped from 62% to 70% in one year, while subscriptions to Internet download speeds of at least 5 Mbps rose from 44% to 52%.
With an average of 5.5 Mbps, Canada ranked second only to Japan in an international comparison of Internet download speeds.
In 2010, adoption of wireless services continued to grow as the number of subscribers increased by 8.5% to 25.8 million. This contrasts with the number of subscribers to home telephone services, which decreased by 0.9% to 12.6 million.
New wireless competitors began making inroads in the major Canadian markets, capturing 25% of new subscribers. Although they offered mostly prepaid subscriptions, their competitive presence contributed to a reduction in the average revenue per user (ARPU) from $58.81 to $57.86 per month.
After seeing revenues for conventional television and radio stations decline in 2009, all sectors of the broadcasting industry experienced growth in 2010, pushing up revenues by 8.9% to $15.7 billion. Pay and specialty television revenues were up 11.1%, conventional television stations increased by 9.9%, broadcasting distribution by 8.9% and commercial radio stations by 2.9%.
Although Canadians are increasingly accessing broadcasting content on the platform of their choice, televisions and radio remain the most popular devices. In 2010, Canadians watched an average of 28 hours of television and listened to 17.6 hours of radio each week.
Anglophone and Francophone Canadians spent 2.6 hours and 1.5 hours, respectively, watching television programming on-line, and both linguistic groups also spent 4.8 hours per week streaming radio programming. In addition, the number of Canadians who watched a video on their cellphone nearly doubled to 9% of Anglophones and 4% of Francophones.
Other highlights from the lengthy report are as follows:
Wireless telephone services
– In 2010, wireless services made up 43% of all telecommunications revenues as revenues increased 6.6% from $16.9 billion in 2009 to $18 billion in 2010;
– The number of mobile telephone subscribers rose from 23.8 million to 25.8, an increase of 8.5% in one year;
– Wireless networks reach approximately 99% of Canadians. More advanced wireless networks, which support Internet-connected smart phones and other devices were available to 97% of the population.
Internet services
– In 2010, revenues generated from Internet services increased by 4.2%, or from $6.5 billion to $6.8 billion. Internet services accounted for 16% of all telecommunications revenues;
– The number of residential Internet subscribers in 2010 grew by 3.1% to 10.4 million.
Local and long-distance telephone services
– In 2010, local and long distance services accounted for 30% of all telecommunications revenues, compared with 52% in 2002;
– The number of local residential telephone lines dipped slightly from 12.7 million in 2009 to 12.6 million in 2010. There was little movement in residential revenues, which came in at $4.73 billion, down from $4.79 billion in 2009;
– Cable companies that provide home telephone service captured approximately 31% of the market by year-end 2010.
Television
– In 2010, Canadians could choose from 716 television services, including 469 English-language services, 116 French-language services and 131 services in other languages;
– Canadians watched an average of 28 hours of television per week, which was higher than the 2009 average of 26.5 hours. This increase is attributed to the use of a new, and more accurate, measurement tool.
Radio
– In 2010, Canadians could access 1,208 radio services, including 904 English-language services, 266 French-language services and 38 services in other languages;
– The average time spent listening to radio services remained relatively unchanged from 17.7 hours in 2009 to 17.6 hours in 2010. Private radio stations captured 79.2% of the weekly radio tuning share, the CBC 13.3%, and other stations 7.4%.
Broadcasting distribution
– In 2010, 11.5 million Canadian households subscribed to television services offered by broadcasting distributors, an increase of 2.5% over the previous year. Of those subscribers, 71% subscribed to cable services, 25% to satellite services and 4% to services that deliver television programming through phone lines (Internet Protocol television);
– The number of subscribers that receive digital television services jumped to 8.8 million in 2010, an increase of 15% over the 7.6 million subscribers a year earlier, meaning that 76% of all subscribers now receive digital television services;
– On average, subscribers paid $3.55 more per month for their services in 2010, an increase of 6.4% over the previous year. This increase can be explained by higher monthly fees, a greater consumption of pay, pay-per-view and video-on-demand services, and consumers upgrading to digital or high-definition television.
