(Ottawa) Statistics Canada has changed the way it tracks the price of wireless plans to get a more accurate picture of what Canadians are paying in its calculation of inflation.
The agency has now begun using actual sales data from participating wireless companies to help get a picture of how the cost of wireless plans is changing.
Statistics Canada previously used data collected from the web on the advertised cost of plans based on a set of profiles designed to reflect how households use their devices.
Matt Hatfield, CEO of OpenMedia, an advocacy organization that promotes internet accessibility and affordability, says including actual sales data is important because many people may be locked into a contract or not realize they could get a better deal by switching plans.
“What Statistics Canada is trying to do is reflect not only the prices available in a new package announced today, but also what consumers are paying in the prices they are actually using, which I think is a positive move,” Hatfield said.
“This will help show what the real situation is with respect to telecommunications and Canadians.”
The price of wireless services has become a political issue in recent years.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said last year that Canadians “pay far too much for telecommunications services” when he gave final approval to Rogers Communications’ takeover of Shaw Communications.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne
A side deal was made in the transaction. Shaw’s Freedom Mobile division was sold to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron, which many hope will become a serious competitor to the larger wireless companies.
The industry has been cutting prices on wireless plans in recent years. Critics argue that many of the new plans allow customers to pay less per gigabyte of data, but some force them to buy large amounts they don’t necessarily need.
Cellular service prices in August fell 12.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the agency’s report released Tuesday.
However, Statistics Canada said caution should be exercised when interpreting year-over-year changes for the first 12 months following the change.
The cellular services price index is part of the household operating, furnishing and equipment expenditures index. It represents 1.22% of the consumer price index basket based on 2023 expenditures.