OTTAWA – Canada’s wireless industry injected $41.2 billion into the Canadian economy in 2009, according to a new report commissioned by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA).
The report, The Benefit of the Wireless Telecommunications Industry to the Canadian Economy, calculated that the wireless sector contributed more than $17.2 billion in terms of direct contribution to the GDP through the sale of goods and services; an additional $14.98 billion due to the economic flow through to contributing suppliers in the supply chain; and more than $9 billion in consumer surplus – the additional benefit or satisfaction that consumers receive from wireless services, above and beyond what they pay for the services.
The study also found that the industry invested $2.95 billion in capital expenditures in 2009, a 60% increase in network capital expenditure over the previous year despite the generally negative economic conditions at that time. In 2008, the industry invested $1.84 billion in equipment and spent $4.26 billion in the advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum, while from 1996 to 2007, the industry invested between $1.1 billion and $1.9 billion each year in capitalized equipment and services.
“Canada’s wireless industry has always been a strong performer in providing economic value to the wider economy of the country,” said CWTA president and CEO, Bernard Lord, who also presented the data Tuesday afternoon at the Canadian Telecom Summit. “The industry’s benefits to Canada are even further validated by the fact that in 2009, when the economy as a whole contracted by 2.8%, the wireless sector was setting record levels of investment.”
The wireless industry is a major contributor to employment, the study continued, employing more than 261,200 people. The sector was also found to offer high value employment, with an average salary of $60,031, compared to a Canadian average salary of $43,895.
Conducted by UK-based Ovum consulting, the study is based on empirical data from the year 2009 provided by a number of CWTA members, and publicly available sources including the CRTC, Statistics Canada, Industry Canada and the annual reports of wireless operators, terminal suppliers and network equipment manufacturers. Ovum forecasts for revenues and services in the wireless sector have also been used in the modeling.
