By Ahmad Hathout
Members of Parliament on the industry committee said Thursday that they want a broad study on mobile wireless prices and want the heads of Canada’s major telecommunications companies in front of them after Rogers announced price hikes to service packages.
MPs said they want to invite to the committee Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri and its chief corporate affairs officer Navdeep Bains, Bell CEO Mirko Bibic, Telus CEO Darren Entwistle, and Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau.
Some members verbally agreed that they needed Champagne and Staffieri in front of them by January 26, a couple of days before the House’s next sitting. Some said they were okay with having the CEOs appear individually as opposed to collectively. But committee chair and Liberal MP Joel Lightbound suspended the meeting before a vote could be held on the matter because time ran out. He said they will resume discussion on the matter in the next meeting.
The meeting Thursday came after a group of committee members called for a hearing on the matter, after Rogers announced that wireless customers could see price increases by as much as $9, but an average of $5 for impacted customers, later this month. Rogers last year reduced the cost of its data on certain wireless packages.
“Let’s be clear, while some progress has been made to lower prices, Canadians still pay too much and see too little competition,” Champagne said in a post on X.
There was general agreement from MPs that they feel the rug was pulled out from under them when the head of the telecoms and Champagne who last appeared before the committee to discuss Rogers’s purchase of Shaw that there would be lower prices and enhanced competition. Competition Commissioner Boswell has consistently said the deal is anti-competitive.
But MPs had to wrestle with how to reconcile the most recent motion and one from September on the study of wireless prices. Some MPs asked that the current study have more hours dedicated to it, broaden the substance to include a study on each telecom’s position in the market, their service offerings, and the factors influencing competitive dynamics.
Champagne, who will be under scrutiny after approving last year the sale of Freedom to Shaw and promised more competition, has previously touted reduced wireless prices in the market, citing recent data.
While the overall Consumer Price Index, the basket of goods that measures inflation, has risen 3.8 per cent year-over-year between September 2022 and September 2023, the wireless component had fallen 17.2 per cent, according to Statistics Canada data. More recent prices for cellular services between November 2022 and November 2023 had fallen 22.6 per cent, according to StatCan data, attributed in part to the promotional period.
Quebecor, which has introduced new lower cost wireless plans under its new Freedom, has taken credit for the recent drop in prices. The CRTC also credited the Montreal-based carrier for those price reductions in the market.
Screenshot of INDU chair Joel Lightbound at committee on Thursday.
Correction: A previous story did not provide nuance on the StatCan figures for lower wireless prices. The September 2022 to September 2023 price reductions for the wireless component specifically were lower than previously reported (17.2 per cent reduction). The updated story also adds more recent figures from November.
