Rogers beat its guidance on wireless net additions and it appears that Rogers’ prepaid numbers picked up all of Bell’s prepaid losses. In that most price sensitive market, with no contracts to constrain their movement, customers marched away from increased rates and higher System Access Fees. All three carriers increased ARPU – all three had declining net additions.
Cost of acquisition per customer declining means lower marketing expenses. Were carriers keeping their powder dry in anticipation of blowing the big bucks for next month’s number portability launch? What other factors are keeping adoption rates in Canada low? All three carriers saw churn improve – to what extent were customers sitting tight, waiting for an opportunity to switch with WNP?
There is a lot of opportunity for continued growth in Canadian wireless with penetration rates experiencing steady growth, but still well behind most of the rest of the world.
Will one of the carriers break ranks to try to grab much more than their fair share of the great unserved segment?