Cell phone bills are really a headache in this part of the world. Everytime I want to call somebody I have to calculate the remaining free-minutes in the plan. I can’t afford not having a landline!

To backup my everyday feelings, a recent analyst report calls Canada’s mobile phone adoption rate “a national disgrace”.

SeaBoard Group report, Lament for a Wireless Nation states that the average wireless customer in Canada pays 56% more than his U.S counterpart.

Canadian wireless penetration is 58%, second last in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries and 20 percentage points behind the United States.

… Canada is a wireless telecommunications backwater whose citizens pay more money for fewer features, and some argue that our slow adoption of true next-generation high-speed wireless data networks has cost the country billions in lost productivity and opportunity.

I believe on SeaBoard’s belief that relatively high cell phone prices in Canada suppress demand for wireless services.

I wish I could update this post with some good news soon !!!

reference/sources: news article | analysis

Tags: canada, mobile phone, cellphone