Canada Has Nearly 29 Million Cellphone Users, 67% Own Smartphone: CRTC

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has followed up on the 2015 Communications Monitoring Report and released data on the telecommunications sector, revealing telecommunication service revenues reached $45.9 billion in 2014, up 2.5% compared to 2013.

“The second part of the Communications Monitoring Report provides a clear indication of where the Canadian telecommunications system is heading. As more Canadians are subscribing to faster Internet speeds and using smartphones and tablets, they are able to participate more actively in the evolving digital economy,” Jean-Pierre Blais, CRTC Chairman said.

In 2014 there were 28.8 million wireless subscribers in Canada, up 1.5% compared to 2013. Of those, 67% owned a smartphone, while tablet ownership reached 49%, up from last year when the percentages were 62% and 39%, respectively.

More and more Canadians can access fourth-generation LTE wireless networks: While in 2013 “only” 81% had access, this jumped to 93% in 2014, according to the CRTC report. This also pushed wireless data usage up 15% as Canadians adopted different apps, services, and other data-intensive activities. Here’s an interesting tidbit: Canadians with a smartphone or tablet used an average of nearly 1 GB of data per month.

When it comes to telecommunication industry revenues, the CRTC report sheds light on where the money goes: The industry is dominated by 10 large companies that collectively, with their affiliates, accounted for 93% of all revenues in 2014, while the remaining players grabbed less than $3.3 billion of these revenues.

Bell Canada, MTS Inc./Allstream Inc., Rogers, Shaw, and TELUS are Canada’s five largest providers of telecommunications services. Combined, including their affiliates, they accounted for more than 84% of total market revenues. The next five largest groups/entities – Bragg, Cogeco, Quebecor, Saskatchewan Telecommunications, and Telesat Canada—accounted for less than 9% of total market revenues. The remaining groups/entities captured 7%.

The top 10 groups/entities are facilities-based service providers, meaning that they own and operate the transmission equipment required to provide telecommunications services. Of the remaining groups/entities, the vast majority are resellers.

To read the report in full, head over to the CRTC’s website by following this link.

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