The financial reports are in and it was an interesting quarter for Canada’s wireless providers.
| 3rd Quarter 2019 Results | |
|---|---|
| Service Provider | Mobile Net Additions |
| Bell | 204,067 |
| Freedom | 90,700 |
| Rogers | 103,000 |
| TELUS | 111,000 | Videotron | 56,800 |
| Others (eg. Eastlink, etc.) | private |
| Total | 565,567 |
Interestingly, you can see that the “new entrants”, Videotron and Freedom, were responsible for more than a quarter of the total new subscriptions, despite having something less than 10% total market share. And this doesn’t include results from privately held Eastlink. So, despite continued growth for all the industry participants, competitors are growing proportionately faster and gaining market share.
And despite election campaign concerns about affordability of mobile services, well over half a million new subscribers found mobile plans they felt they could afford.
This is not to say that there aren’t some Canadians in disadvantaged households who need assistance participating in the digital economy, just as they need help meeting their day-to-day needs. Since the introduction of broadband services for low income households, there is evidence that it isn’t only an issue with pricing. What other factors are inhibiting adoption?
As I wrote last week (echoing earlier posts), we need to develop a better understanding of how to target service delivery to help promote a more connected Canada.