(Ottawa) The cost of telecommunications services continues to fall, thus helping to bring down the rate of inflation in the country last month, according to data from Statistics Canada.
Consumers who signed up for a cell phone plan in February paid 26.5% less than the same month last year, following a 16.4% year-over-year decline in January.
The federal agency says the year-over-year decline is due to lower prices for new plans and increased data allocations for some cellular service plans.
Statistics Canada also reports that prices for internet access in February fell last month by 13.2% on an annual basis and 9.4% month over month, a decline it attributes to promotions offered by suppliers.
Consumer Price Index data released Tuesday by Statistics Canada showed Canada’s overall annual inflation rate was 2.8 per cent last month, down from 2.9 per cent in January.
The federal agency said cell phone service and internet access indexes were among the factors responsible for the decline.
Telecommunications prices have been getting a lot of attention lately. The issue is currently being studied by the House of Commons industry committee, which heard testimony Monday from executives of Canada’s three largest telecommunications companies.