Your Internet Service Might Get Cheaper

 

Are you tired of Rogers and Bell?

Did you know that Canada gets notoriously bad deals when it comes to cell phones, cable, and all things electronics?

Well the Competition Bureau wants to get to the bottom of it.

The Competition Bureau has launched a study to examine the habits of Canadian customers in purchasing internet services. The goal is to gain a better understanding of the dynamics in the Canadian broadband industry.

“There are few products more vital to Canada’s economic future than broadband,” said John Pecman, Commissionner of Competition. “We want to shine a light on potential competitive issues in a sector at the heart of our daily lives.”

The study will explore whether there are ways to foster more competition in this sector, which could lead to more choices and lower prices for Canadians.

The study will focus on the amount of competition in the industry and will seek to identify positive steps that governments could take to spur competition among providers. 

Most Canadian homes, it finds, are served by two networks capable of providing broadband internet services: one owned by the local telephone company, and the other by the cable company.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has taken action in the past to increase competition in Canadian broadband by allowing independent companies to use existing telephone and cable networks to provide services to Canadians. 

According to the CRTC, more than 550 companies have been established as alternatives to traditional telephone and cable companies, but as of 2016, 87 per cent of retail internet subscriptions in Canada were bought from a traditional telephone or cable company and only 13 per cent were purchased from independent companies.