Wireless bills will continue to rise in 2015, according to an estimate penned by analysts at Desjardins Securities, a financial services company.
They say Rogers, Bell, and TELUS will collect a 1.3% higher ARPU (average revenue per user) on a monthly basis compared to last year, making it the second-highest annual gain in the past five years, Global News highlights.
You may recall that last year JD Power tried to throw dust in the eyes of Canadians, claiming that wireless bills had dropped by $7 thanks to the CRTC’s Wireless Code implemented in December 2013.
Another report, commissioned by the government, revealed that for some reason incumbent players needed to increase the monthly charge for basic mobile wireless services from $31 (2013) to $36 in 2014. On the other hand, high-volume users saw their prices drop from $94 to $80.
As we highlighted with each quarterly earnings report published by the incumbents, the ARPU is on the rise. In numbers, that means last year ARPU rose 1.7%, according to data compiled by Desjardins.
“While competition remains fierce for subscribers, we believe price competition has receded enough to allow [Rogers, Bell and Telus] to deliver improved profitability,” Desjardins telecom analyst Maher Yaghi said.
When it comes to competition, the government’s “more choice, lower prices” remains only a motto that has little to do with reality: the Big Three dominate the wireless landscape. Users are apparently comfortable with paying higher bills — as they demand more and more data on their phones, according to the carriers.
Although this is only a forecast, there are signs that this could become reality this year: Bell just increased its BYOD price to $45 per month. And this could only be the beginning.
