A recent report out of Merrill Lynch – Bank of America says that Canadian mobile data pricing is fully competitive with the US.” Its July 27 report notes that all Canadian carriers are offering $15 unlimited email plans, while none of the Tier 1 carriers in the US have such low prices available.
We find that Canadian pricing is reasonably competitive with US pricing at the middle and upper price points – and more attractive for BlackBerry service and for light users. In the next few quarters, we believe that Canada will have an unmatched combination of data network quality, breadth and competitiveness, following the launch of the TELUS/Bell HSPA network.
The report also says that coverage, bandwidth and network performance are generally better in Canada, arguing that that today, Rogers’ 7.2Mbps HSPA network is North America’s best.
The Merrill Lynch report concludes that as a result of the new competitive entrants and continued investment by incumbents, Canada should have an unmatched combination of data network quality, breadth and competitiveness.
Shouldn't we compare the email-only plans in Canada to the all-out data plans in the USA?
Who needs email-only plans when you can get an actual data plan and send/receive emails through whichever provider/service you wish?