I laugh when I hear that Bell is donating 10 million dollars for mental health ... at the same time it is their bullshit that is driving people nuts.

@panasonicism

Жыл бұрын

Not to mention how they treat their employees.

@Justicescales123

Жыл бұрын

And who signed up for their service?

@karthickentrepreneur8615

Жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. That mental stress is all about their monthly bills on us

@ArashFallah

Жыл бұрын

Donating to mental health is just tax deduction in disguise.

@Justicescales123

Жыл бұрын

@@ArashFallah Is that a bad thing if millions are going to a good cause? What's the government doing about mental health?

Having lived in both US and Canada, it’s outrageous how high cellphone bills and how little these plans offer. I hope this episode brings this issue to more attention, thank you Marketplace!

@Lmfaocj

Жыл бұрын

It's funny in my car I have "On-Star" and for the mobile hotspot plan in the US, they get unlimited for like 20 dollars. We get like 2-4 GB last time I checked. It's rediculous!

@darreldennis7115

Жыл бұрын

I pay $180 for 7 lines in the US which include free Netflix subscription. Its insane to pay that much more when we literally live 2 hours across the border.

@jsocials

Жыл бұрын

When I moved to Canada in 2008 from France. I was in shock about how much Canadians pay for 'EVERYTHING'. Same with public transit infrastructure. They tell us its difficult terrain, but its about profits to the select few!

@trappenweisseguy27

Жыл бұрын

Second largest land mass on the planet with only 33 million people to pay for infrastructure.

@ginomazzei1076

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for what They pretend to question Their federal benefactor

I moved to Canada almost 3 years ago from Italy and I still remember how I felt after seeing the prices here. In Italy I had a phone plan that allowed me to have unlimited texts and phone calls + 50 GIGABYTES of data within Europe at 7.99€‎ a month (around 11.60 canadian dollars per month, taxes included). I really hope things will change soon!

@gunnermac3570

Жыл бұрын

Well you're getting the true Canadian experience. We will complain but do nothing about it.

@cerveauy8782

Жыл бұрын

@@gunnermac3570 Canada is hella corrupted.

@symh7505

Жыл бұрын

@@gunnermac3570 it's cause we work 40+ hours per week. Mobilizing citizens to implement change is hard when everyone is tired with the difficulties of everyday life

@Valach38

Жыл бұрын

Monopoly

@Ramxie35

Жыл бұрын

@@symh7505 modern slavery

Politicians refusing interviews with CBC is unacceptable.

@OvaltineClassique

2 ай бұрын

Almost like they don't want to held accountable. Can't tell a heinz pickle anything

@jonathanshane6274

Ай бұрын

Business 101 in the Soviet North

I am originally from Canada and I have lived in 5 countries in 3 continents: Canada is the worst by a country mile in terms of telecom service and price. Whenever I go home, I am shocked by having to pay so much for so little. Equally shocking is how this has been an issue for decades and the CRTC has not figured it out yet. Canadians get gouged and the government plays the fiddle while the "big three" get wealthier and quality of service goes down.

@uh4975

Жыл бұрын

exactly! It's sick!

@rudyzk

Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately is not only phone plans. Canada is more expensive in everything. The average Canadian citizen never protest or they just stay quiet, so big corporations and politicians take advantage. Cars, houses, food, clothes, gasoline, electronics, everything is more expensive in Canada

@gerried1218

Жыл бұрын

@@rudyzk you are so right, they only know how to protest on things that do not matter such as protesting against wearing masks in Ottawa by truckers. Imagine if that protest was about the standard of living

@mynameisnoonesbusiness4488

Жыл бұрын

I agree. That, cable, banks, groceries, clothing. On top of housing costs. Horrible

@kazzxtrismus

Жыл бұрын

THE CRTC IS "RETIRED" EXECUTIVES FROM ROGERS BELL AND TELUS

Easy answer - greed. In Mexico I pay the equivalent of $12 cdn a month for unlimited calls to US, Can and Mex plus 5 gigs data. Eff Rogers!

@bilalmuhammad9420

Жыл бұрын

In UK on giff gaff which is pay as you go so no contract and for £12 I used to get 20gb unlimited phone and messages.. also all over eu roaming when it was part of eu. 12... for no plan or contract. Cheaper if you are on o2 or Vodafone

As an international student who recently came to Canada, I was surprised by the high prices of phone plans here. In my country, I used to pay only $3 a month for a plan that included 1.5GB/day of data, even after the speed was reduced, unlimited calling, and 1000 texts/day. It's hard to understand why Canadian phone plans are so much more expensive compared to other countries. I hope that in the future, the prices will become more reasonable for people like us who are on a budget. Keep up the good work with the informative videos, it's really helpful for us to understand the reasons behind it.

@DarkGhostHacker

4 ай бұрын

Greed. The government takes bribes from corporations. They just call it lobbying here and it's legally allowed. Which country was this where you pay so cheap?

@user-lt5no1xt1z

2 ай бұрын

Could you just use your home country phone plan in Canada with an international plan?

@DarkGhostHacker

2 ай бұрын

Greed. Greed is the reason. It's part of the culture here. Along with other abnormal behaviour.

@DarkGhostHacker

2 ай бұрын

@@user-lt5no1xt1z only some plans from some phone companies do that. Some American phone plans allow to be used but only in certain countries like Mexico, Canada, Jamaica etc. and those are only some plans for some companies. Most don't have that option. My phone plan can only be used in Canada, USA and Mexico for example. I cannot use in any other country. Otherwise I have to get more expensive plan, or use roaming charges.

You should do an episode on Enbridge gas. They were fined $250,000 for all of their issues, and are only getting worse with their price hikes, and refusal to check people’s gas meters. My bill went from $100/ month to $1000-$2000. It took me calling the Ontario Energy Board to finally get Enbridge to acknowledge their mistake.

The problem is NOT the BIG 3. The problem is the CRTC regulators by hiring a decision maker, Ian Scott, who has worked for Rogers Telecom (Call-Net Enterprises), Telus (Former Telus VP) and in 2019 met with Bell (Mirko Bibic in regards to appealing wholesale rates). Personally, I consider this a conflict of interest situation with money in there somewhere. The current government is permitting this. In fact the Rogers and Shaw merger needs the approval of the current government to REDUCE competition. No mention of Rogers on the status of preventing another network outage that affected Hospitals, debit payments, Fido (consumer level mobile), Rogers mobile (priced at a corporate rate) and Rogers internet. Why even have a CRTC when it is just words with no teeth

@someguy604

Жыл бұрын

I think there's a level of corruption going on between them.

@jakecarroll5

Жыл бұрын

Corruption at all levels is how.

@thatguy5801

Жыл бұрын

No the problem is people wanting 60+ gigabytes of data. My plan is unlimited calls & texts and its only 17$ taxes in, in Canada.

@No_name860

Жыл бұрын

@@thatguy5801 who are you with? I’d love to know!

@thatguy5801

Жыл бұрын

@@No_name860 Luckymobile

The Competition Tribunal approved the Rogers-Shaw merger on December 29, 2022 while Canadians weren't paying attention. This means higher telecom bills and even less competition. Canadian industries that are oligopolistic include banking, telecom, groceries, media and engineering firms. This is a large contributor to Canadians' lower purchasing power and high cost of living. Sadly there is almost no political will for change.

@cheesecakedoublepeanutbutt6511

Жыл бұрын

Politicians definitely profited from it, so of course they won't change it.

@steviewanderer

Жыл бұрын

We can blame conflicts of interest and the cyclical gravy train for almost everything that we as a society overpay for

@user-bs9uc7nz4r

Жыл бұрын

Vote Pierre

@RAM-db3ti

Жыл бұрын

No they did not

@Tori_TLCR

Жыл бұрын

Pierre voted with the Liberals against increased competition and lowering telecom prices including a customer bill of Rights. He's not going to change a thing.

This brings back memories of when I was in highschool. Was with Bell, and had "unlimited" texting. I learned the hard way "unlimited" wasn't actually that. There was a cap on it, that I surpassed and they tried billing me $1200 for it. I called and freaked, since I was just a highschool student and couldn't afford it. They agreed to refund it, I switched to Telus the week after.

Wireless phone rates are expensive in Canada due to weak consumer protection legislation. Unlike most other countries, our federal government doesn't prioritize defending Canadian consumers, choosing instead to protect established industries including telecoms, banking, forestry, dairy, and mining - to name a few.

I'm originally from the US and when I came here my jaw dropped at this robbery that was happening in broad daylight. How can we pay higher prices for cell service than 3rd world countries? It's about time they did a piece on these greedy cell phone providers. The funny thing that most people don't know is when it comes to competition they all unite to make sure that no new competition steps foot in Canada. I remember Verizon was planning on coming here and they drove them out. The one thing that is really different here in Canada than in the US is the most Canadians don't stand up and fight for things like this they just take it and accept it. This is one thing I wish was different here. Going back to the US has been weighing on my mind for the last 6 months now.

@MrLoobu

Жыл бұрын

You only have a few months warm enough to stand out, and probably not enough money to get to the houses of power, or the media.

@VishnuKamath

Жыл бұрын

Ditto brother. Coming from US it is a robbery. Its Crazy and service is really bad.

@thatLion01

Жыл бұрын

ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile way cheaper than Rogers,bell, Telus. But ușa is also 300 mill+ vs 30 million+ makes sense

@johnarnold893

Жыл бұрын

@@thatLion01 No really since 90% of Canadians live within 100 k of the US border.

@abc10927

Жыл бұрын

@@thatLion01 That's a common myth that Canada's population size is the reason why prices are so high here. Australia is also large with a small population and the prices are significantly lower, much like in the US.

Call it what it is. A monopoly. When the government takes away the monopoly and lets the competition in, maybe we can afford it. Cell phones are next on the list for all of us to quit using in order to survive. When it comes to food on table or expensive cell phone use, guess who's going to win. There is no reason for these monopolies, regardless of what rogers, bell and telus says. My vote is food on the table.

@TheGamingCanadian

Жыл бұрын

Oligopoly, actually

@levizander5584

Жыл бұрын

The problem is that the oligopoly is tacitly supported by government measures. Governments don't dismantle monopolies, they foster them.

@studio8601

Жыл бұрын

They know the answer they know what the are doing

@gedias1

Жыл бұрын

Competition has been allowed for a while now. Verizon looked at the market, and said it wasn't feasible for them. Country is too big and sparse.

@charlenecrouse9929

Жыл бұрын

They won’t

As someone who has lived in the US her whole life, and as a cellular network enthusiast, this is one of the big things that would hold me back from moving to Canada. The US isn't great compared to places in like Europe, but it is at least better than Canada, although prices here are going up in ways as well, although we at least have unlimited offerings and cheaper limited offerings from MVNOs, some of which thankfully aren't owned by the main carriers.

@BreadFred3

3 ай бұрын

We need universal healthcare badly.

I used to work for a carrier. The low prices for the people switching over are only for new customers. After a period of time they will pay the new carrier the same price per month (or higher). My advice is first to not do leases or installment billing for a phone. Buy it outright. Second, let your adult age kids in university pay their own bills. And shop around for those bundle deals. Many of them are not really great deals in the long run.

Cbc marketplace and this kind of investigative journalism is everything we need to promote. The greed of big business does not care about us. They are counting on our ignorance. LOVE Marketplace ❤ Just when I was about to take on Telus myself today….just in time.

@Justicescales123

Жыл бұрын

This video has way to many errors in it and this is the reason people get mad because they hear crap like investigate or expert abd think the reporting must be 100% accurate. You don't ask consumers how an industry works when trying don't even understand how to read a simple bill. Not one person in this video actually understand hiw incorrect the info is that they're giving to the consumer.

@glawr8486

Жыл бұрын

I wonder why someone would want to defund a news outlet that puts out stories like this? ...

@Justicescales123

Жыл бұрын

@@glawr8486 Because they put out miss leading info like this.

@jthayer479

Жыл бұрын

@@Justicescales123 Can you give an example of a piece of incorrect information in this video and a source demonstrating that?

@Justicescales123

Жыл бұрын

@@jthayer479 sure once you show me proof that this information is correct.

Competition isn't the only issue. There seems to be a lot of interest in the government to favour and protect institutional investors, like banks, and other financial and investment companies. They have a big role to play in all of this.

@myleshagar9722

Жыл бұрын

They also hate any competition, thus we paid to rip out Huawei and replace everything with inferior, outdated crap, so we don't get spied on. ha ha ha

@kuanjohansson5304

Жыл бұрын

Bankers accountants and lawyers

@ryantsui2802

Жыл бұрын

Institutional investors and banks have globally diversified holdings. The big ones anyway, even if their telecom holdings are cut 85% they'll be totally fine.

For nearly two years, I used a US number roaming in Canada, and it was cheaper compared to similar Canadian plans 🤐 I feel that last time we had a price reduce was when Verizon tried to buy Wind, when all big three stopped long distance charges.

I've lived on both sides of the US-Canadian border. What I found was that it was MUCH cheaper for me to keep my US number with AT&T's prepaid service while I was living in Toronto and just roam the entire time. I still had unlimited data for a flat rate of about $55 US, had no trouble with making calls. And, to my knowledge, none of my friends with Canadian numbers had to pay any additional charges to call or text me. I was also able to switch my phone's regionalization to Canada (allowing for things like Canada-specific apps) without any trouble while maintaining my US service. It's fairly common for US carriers to offer unlimited roaming (including for data) in Canada. AT&T never complained about all of my usage in Canada. If you have the opportunity to do so, and don't mind having an American area code, I'd suggest looking into that as a solution.

@Babynate1000

Жыл бұрын

Yes I did the same for years

@victording6698

Жыл бұрын

So did I, except that I was with Verizon and they disconnected my service two years later.

@luigivincenz3843

Жыл бұрын

SAME. Live in the US and the ATT gophone has FREE calls to canada and mexico. I know Asians and Filipinos use Viber to avoid the extra text charges which is a scam. (f telus)

@andrewcrookall7229

Жыл бұрын

Yup it's a good solution. Probably your Canadian friends did pay to call your US number. Most plans in Canada don't cover this unless its at a premium plan level. I bet if most Canadians stopped giving money to domestic telecoms they would notice and adapt.

@My_Old_YT_Account

Жыл бұрын

@@andrewcrookall7229 probably not, it goes through the same towers, they would just up the price for foreign companies

This is a very well documented video explaining the telecom industry in Canada and how corrupt its been for over a decade

@Alphoric

Жыл бұрын

I mean they still do the bottlenecking which is crazy like 40gb at such speed then unlimited after but at a much slower speed is straight up criminal behaviour from them

@N1ka

Жыл бұрын

@@Alphoric how you Canadians do Internet stuff like trading or gambling or doing business which requires high speed internet? with those speeds its very harrd to impossible

@michaelatcheson4816

Жыл бұрын

DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC

@AndrewAce.

Жыл бұрын

It's about to get worse

@missingbitz9831

Жыл бұрын

@@michaelatcheson4816 I'm guessing you work for one of these corrupt telcom companies.

Thank you Marketplace for this eye opening investigation. The CRTC really should look into it and have a control consumer protection. I also agree Canada has the more expensive plans in the world.

@michaelatcheson4816

Жыл бұрын

DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC

Great job! canada's phone plans/data plan is crazy expensive. Canadians should hold a protest against this.

Do internet and TV services next please! It's basically the same exact thing.

@gunit6815

Жыл бұрын

TV Service? That's still a thing?

@brandonpoley

Жыл бұрын

its worse

@gunit6815

Жыл бұрын

@@Drivenwithambition I don't know anyone with cable or satellite tv anymore. Just use the cable jack for internet service

@tahaniaburaneh6625

Жыл бұрын

Yes. please do. internet prices are insanely high.

@myleshagar9722

Жыл бұрын

@@tahaniaburaneh6625 Internet is essential and should be free, like radio waves.

Worked at a Telco and then worked as an ombudsman for different telcos. I had to leave the industry entirely. It's disgusting what they can get away with and they have little oversight. When there are rules, they know exactly how to go around them or flat out break them. Money talks.

@newfdogg

Жыл бұрын

Money talks! Yes they take care of each other and it's not going change, not just the big 3 , it's all of government and companies, they all pad each others pockets, and the common people pay the price, it's like when the head of the CRTC got caught with one of the executives of Rogers having lunch and he said were just friends, lol, they are all very RICH friends and getting richer, and the common folk paying through the nose and just surviving, its sad!

@abc10927

Жыл бұрын

Mind sharing some specific examples?

@newfdogg

Жыл бұрын

@@abc10927 SNC-Lavalin, the eHealth Scandal, the Ontario power plant scandal, and the Ornge scandal. The 2014 Ernst & Young global fraud survey found that "twenty percent of Canadian executives believe bribery and corruption are widespread in this country".

@paulsz6194

Жыл бұрын

Which country did you work in when working as an Ombudsman?

@900Yugo

Жыл бұрын

@@newfdogg Someone has to fund their Ponzi scheme foundation.

American here. So we have 4 large carriers and MANY, like HUNDREDS of smaller providers. You can get a US phone with any US area code, and unlimited US, Mexico and Canada calling. The downfall is that anyone calling you would be calling long distance, but if you're okay with that, $40 for 2 people and $10 to $25 more for each other line up to 10 in some areas.

Thanks for taking this to spotlight. I was in Canada for few months and searching for plan and could not believe the prices. I end up with myChattr prepay and data was only 2.5gb for the plan that I picked. It's way too expensive in Canada.

This will never stop. Market place will keep making such videos but next to impossible to turn the table. Big 3 are too powerful.

@ultort

Жыл бұрын

This was the same in France 12 years ago, with 3 telco company that created a cartel and agreed to not compete to on price. But then, the telecom regulator allowed a new provider (Free Mobile), it was not the best provider at first, but the price was very low, it attracted many customers, the big 3 had to align their prices. Free Mobile has one of the best network today and the price has never moved, but the offer improved (data and 5G). There is also many MVNO with very low prices in France.

@kalp78

Жыл бұрын

@@ultort similar way other players did enter the market in the name of competition but later they had to sell and move out and this big 3 bought them all. Currently in canada there is a company into MVNO, struggling is Dotmobile struggling with govt since last few years. Wind mobile had to sell to Shaw and now Shaw is selling to Rogers. Same there there was another company sold to Rogers few years back. It seems there is political connection which plays part to not allow other players to boom and blossom.

@michaelatcheson4816

Жыл бұрын

DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC

@Stevenkx2

Жыл бұрын

The problem is essentially that they don't think they need to compete against themselves,when companies like those see that if they don't turn down the prices their customers will leave that's when they change, things could be better in many countries you can have a sim to receive calls and texts for free unless you want to call someone else then you will have to pay, but mobile plans are also cheap as all companies know that they have competition in the market. that's free market if in a country companies are allowed to buy their competition things will never change.

It is so painful to use cellular services here in Canada... I'm mexican by born. When family and friend come to visit I'm so impressed by the way they use their roaming data from Mexico without even regarding their amount of use it.... When I'm in Mexico I'm afraid even to turn on the phone!!!

@Alphoric

Жыл бұрын

Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just move to Mexico like Canada seems like an expensive country or get a Mexican sim and just roam if it’s cheaper

@900Yugo

Жыл бұрын

Might as well buy a Mexican SIM card and roam in Canada,get cut off,buy another one.

@BillOweninOttawa

Жыл бұрын

@@Alphoric "just move to Mexico"? Do you really think that is some kind of solution?

@everydayfun9531

Жыл бұрын

Change your Sim to a Mexican one then no need to roam that's what I'd do if I were to go to a country like Mexico.

@gustavomercado1599

2 ай бұрын

@@900Yugo That's a breach of contract and the service provider can cancel your plan or penalize you for that

Ministers and deputy ministers should not be allowed to decline reasonable media requests for interviews in the public interest. Unacceptable.

Marketplace makes some great and very interesting videos. Thank you! Also shocking to see as a Finn how expensive it is in Canada. Feel bad for you guys

@michaelatcheson4816

Жыл бұрын

DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC

8:19 This is so true. 20 years loyal customer gets 3 hours of call wait time...while a new prospective customer gets 1 minute and 38 seconds. There should be a law about having equal wait time.🤯

@gmallory

Жыл бұрын

It shows where they budget their priorities.

It's a big shame about the internet and wireless prices in Canada. I lived in multiple countries before coming here but never seen prices like this! First time after moving to Canada, I thought they were joking but it was a brutally true story!

@nikhilthampi123

Жыл бұрын

@@nsevv Well, that's one way to say. But a lot of fellow Canadians show the true Canadian spirit and say we need to fix the actual issue 🙂

I visited Canada from New Zealand and was sooooo shocked at the Price of a basic plan in Canada

I used to work for 1 of the big 3. (Not in the Cell or cable or telco division) And the CRTC was a client of ours. There was alot of wineing and dining behind the scenes. I actually actually saw a pitch from an Egyptian company that was trying to get into the Canadian market. Someone told me that the CRTC mandates that only Canadian owned companies can apply.

@philipbranco9568

Жыл бұрын

I always thought the reason why is because Canada doesn't allow foreign competition in the telecom sphere, American telecom prices fell hugely when Germany's T-Mobile came on the scene.

@whosdondada

Жыл бұрын

I remember when Verizon almost entered the Canadian Market. The big 3 were so scared lol

It's brutal, I was in Europe this past summer and I can't believe how much we get screwed.

Don’t forget, if your with TELUS and pay using credit card, they’re charging you an extra 1.5% fee on top of your total bill including taxes as a credit card processing fee now.

In fact, in Canad it sometimes even cheaper to use Internet in roaming rather than switch to big 3 plans :)

Great episode

The other day I called Rogers and their line said, "Your waiting time is appr 6 hrs". How ridiculous is that?

I am a Canadian who has lived in Laos for more than a decade. Just so you know - I get 35GB of data for less than $3.50 (USD). Also when I have a problem - I have people on the line ASAP to deal with it.

@myleshagar9722

Жыл бұрын

I found the same living in China, served by the forbidden, evil Huawei.

@TheDuckPox

Жыл бұрын

Perhaps it's worth to consider that Laos is a developing country. I think the countries that are compared in the video are more comparable.

@My_Old_YT_Account

Жыл бұрын

@@TheDuckPox The tower costs the same, doesn't matter where you put it

@TheDuckPox

Жыл бұрын

@@My_Old_YT_Account The labour cost is different, the land cost and taxes are also different. The only similar tower costs are the material/component, license and patent costs.

Good coverage, of an incredibly relevant topic!

Welcome to Canada, where consumers have little to no protection rights and politicians deflect with empty songs and dances with "investigations" and how they "have the consumer protection in their best interest in mind" and "how they are working to help the consumer" and so and and so forth - year after year and Government after Government - the same song and dance with no changes - and this applies to so much more than just mobile plans. On the topic of Canadian mobile plans - some 15 years ago, I was with Bell, I signed up for a $50 per month plan back in the days of "free evenings and weekends", made 99% of my calls in the evening and on weekends and they billed me over $400. I called them up, asked for an explanation, and they said they "reviewed" my plan and changed it (without notifying me) to a plan that was "better suited for my needs". Took a while, but I got them to change my plan back and refund me my money. A couple of months later, they did it again. Cancelled the plan and went elsewhere. Fast forward 10 years, I went back to Bell, got a 6GB plan and every single month, I would end up going over my data plan or very close to it. After the contact expired, I switched to Virgin, got an identical plan with 6GB (for less money) and am still using the identical phone and even though Virgin is Bell, I have not once even come close to using all of my data in the 6 years I've been with them. The big 3 are crooks, they know it but they don't care because they know that there is absolutely zero recourse for them.

When I lived in Europe, the costs of a cellphone plan were ridiculous low in comparison to Canada, granted this was before Data was such an integral part of a phone plan, though I know it'd still be way better than it is here. I switched to Wynd/Freedom years ago, I'm also with a smaller ISP company for my internet at home, I was so tired dealing with the big 3 having dealt with them each over the years. It'd be nice if our governments (Liberal/Conservative doesn't matter) actually cared for it's citizens to get us fair competition. I'm so tired of the excuse of big country, Australia has had better pricing for ages.

When I worked for Bell TV they told us that the reason the costs were so high was because of satellites that they had to put up but the thing is Bell Telephone was initially funded by the government during war times, thus the people paid. Also, the Satellites Bell put up were compensated by the Government from what I understand. I now live in another country and pay under $9 for my husband's plan and under $17 for mine which includes free coverage for some apps.

@michaelatcheson4816

Жыл бұрын

DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC DEFUND CBC

CBC working on the real issues, thank you

Excellent reporting.

When you want to do renegotiate your plans / services, put all the providers in your area on a conference call, and let them hash it out. It's hilarious to watch them scramble as they try to beat each other, and I've never had it fail to secure me custom rates.

@jessicazhang6508

Жыл бұрын

Really??? You tried this??

@gregmurdoch3264

Жыл бұрын

@@jessicazhang6508 yes, many times, and it always makes my laugh

I learned this week after calling them multiple times and having to escalate the situation that Telus contracts are one-sided. When consumers breach contract, we get penalized. But if they sign a contract with you and weeks later they realize the phone is out of stock, they'll send a simple text and ask you to call (and wait 45+ minutes) and pick a new phone but they can't honour the boxing day sales (time I renewed my contract). The representative even said they're allowed to cancel agreements based on phone availability. Yet a week ago, the one agent had no problem selling and confirming the phone was available and signing a contract. So their mistake, but consumers get penalized. We need more competition. Hoping with marketplace shining a light on this topic, we'll get more competitors in Canada 🤞🏼

@colindoyle9876

Жыл бұрын

Long wait times should be breach of service

I live in Asia and i pay 13cnd a month, with 4G unlimited and reliable internet usage. It used to be a little over that but bc i dont do phone calls i asked the company for a discount. Canadian prices are unbelievable.

Here in Australia we have a national phone and internet carrier called Telstra which owned most of our infrastructure before it was privatised. We also let in Optus, which is a Singapore based company, to build and operate more infrastructure. We now have many small cell phone operators who provide cell service, like Aldi the German supermarket chain, and Amaysim. I have been with both and paid $ 25 a month for unlimited mobile, landline local and national calls and got 22 GB of data and any unused data rolls over each month with no limit on rollover. I currently have around 523 GB of data in my account for use at the moment because i never use 22 GB each month. With both of them you can pay as little as $ 15 a month for unlimited local, national, and mobile calls and 3 GB of data with any unused data rolled over to next month unlimited. As far as dropouts or no service in certain areas with these 2 companies or any of the many others we have, it is almost non existent in rural areas and nonexistent in the cities and burbs. Australian mobile carriers have around 95-98 % coverage of the whole country. You Canadians are getting screwed royally, and if i was a Canadian i would be burning the house down until things changed.

This is a great show. Hopefully this will wake up more people and politicians.

I wonder how many Canadiens are calling up there cell phone providers, and asking for better deals after watching this broadcast.

It’s about time to flood the gov’t. with complaints. I mean FLOOD it. If enough people complain, then they will HAVE TO listen & start reacting & doing something about it.

@Ktsquare2008

Жыл бұрын

How to do it?

Marketplace, I love you. Thank you for speaking up about these issues and making such great in depth and fantastic videos!

Well. I needed a new phone. Bestbuy won't sell me a new iPhone without me signing a new phone contracts. I couldn't buy out the phone outright. My cellular provider won't sell me a new iPhone outright as well. I finally end up at Costco buying out a new phone out right. There might be a more clear transparency as to how much a third party makes signing up a contract with a provider. They are making money selling signing up contracts than selling phones. There are many third parties store in cdn doing that. The question is should the able to without being transparent?

I’m paying $100 plus tax for a 80 GB data with unlimited talk with Rogers and I recently travel to Srilanka and got the same plan with a provider in Srilanka. For the same plan with 100GB of data I’m paying $15 (3,500 rupees). Even this plan includes unlimited KZread, Facebook & WhatsApp. Definitely the cell phone plans are very expensive in Canada.

@ptybuay507

Жыл бұрын

What province

@Ian.Powell

Жыл бұрын

here in ontario im paying 140 for 2 lines of 20gb highspeed and unlimited low speed.

I left Canada last fall, best decision ever! To give you an example, in Thailand, I got a plan for 3 months, with 100 GB data per month with unli texts and calls locally. Cost? 21.90CDN for the the entire 3 months! And this is just the start! Canada is out pricing itself!!!

You could've said "Telus won't tell us" at 19:29

Remember when they tried to block AT&T from coming to Canada? They said “oh they only care about the market, what about the country area?” Yet they’re doing nothing about it. AT&T decided to go to the UK instead. This was around 2014 or so.

In Japan. I pay $10 a month. You don't have to pay more than $30 for unlimited data. Phone calls are priced separately.

@adamk4733

Жыл бұрын

I pay $0 for Obama plan unlimited talk and text with 5g a month here in USA 🇺🇸

We need Mint Mobile (US carrier, Ryan Reynolds owns part of them) to be allowed to come to Canada. These are the types of small companies that help foster competition and lower prices for consumers. They aren't bloated massive behemoths who have been feeding at the troughs of Government and Consumers for decades. I joined Wind several years ago and it was great (never had an issue). I ended up switching to Rogers a couple of years later, but have since switched back to (as it's known now) Freedom Mobile. I've never had any issues with them (in terms of service, billing, pricing, etc.) and their rates are quite a bit less than the Big 3 (or have been). I am not sure how the takeover (Shaw or Videotron?) will change things.

@sammymarrco2

Жыл бұрын

there are alot of similar companies in Canada, lucky mobile and myphonebox come to mind

Basically long story short, jump straight to loyalty/retention when talking to your phone provider and negotiate

And over here in the United States of America, you can get ACTUALLY unlimited everything for $45/mo+tax minimum if you go with a major carrier (specifically that’s the T-Mobile Base Essentials plan) or for $30/mo incl. tax if you go with an MVNO (specifically that’s the Visible Base plan). _And then Canada is getting shafted by their major carriers even harder than we are._

@Gloryboyquan

4 ай бұрын

bro it's way harder to immigrate to states than Canada

The worst thing about cell plan pricing here on top of the outrageous prices to begin with, it how quickly the cost/GB goes up when you try to get a smaller plan. I'm currently with Bell, but have switched from both Rogers and Telus over the last 2 years due to spotty cell coverage where I live in Victoria. Where I work, I can only reach a Telus tower (which they also share with Bell) but in another part of the city, Telus/Bell have poor coverage and Rogers is solid. I wanted a base plan from Rogers for city-wide coverage, and a dual-SIM with either Telus or Bell to use at work, or vice-versa and I would switch to Rogers in the spotty area of town. All 3 providers offered the same base plan that I wanted: 20GB for $50. Still expensive compared to international rates, but it was the best valued plan that gave me the actual 5GB that I really need. But when I tried to get a small data plan for my dual-SIM from any of the providers, something in the range of 2 or 3 GB, they all quoted plans starting at $30 for 1GB or $40 for 3GB!! They all offer a talk/text only with no data for $15, so they're essentially charging $15 for the 1 GB of data. With the same logic applied to the 20GB plan, that's $35 for 20GB of data. Volume pricing works for physical goods because there's often a labor savings involved when dealing with 1 item vs 100 of the same item. But data is virtual; there's no physical component, so why the volume pricing, and why such a steep increase for low quantities? Most volume pricing schemes involve discounts of 10 or 20% when you buy more. Comparing $15 for 1GB to $35 for 20GB is a discount of 89%!! At same value pricing, the 20GB plan should cost $300, or the 1GB plan should cost $16.75 ($15 for the talk/text plus $1.75 for the 1GB). And speaking of physical costs, the other odd thing is that the Big-Three all charge $10 for an eSIM, but getting a physical SIM either in store of mailed to you is free?? The other discovery I made during this journey was that there's virtually no "data-only" options for cell-phones. A Roger's rep suggested I get a tablet-style data-only plan from Telus or Bell for my second SIM, but a Bell rep told me that's only available for tablet SIM's which don't work in cell-phones, and can only be provided as an add-on plan to an existing cell-plan. If you try the tablet SIM in your phone, it either won't work or you'd get charged a ton due to roaming fees or incompatible device fees, or something to that extent. I then asked about the data-only plans used for pocket-WiFi (Mi-Fi) devices, and was told that's a 3rd type of SIM and also can't be used in phones!! *insert face-palm here* I eventually found a Bell-sub-subsidiary provider, Lucky mobile, who offers a data-only plan for cell users. Their offer: 500 MB of data at 3G only for only $15/month, lol. This is the best we can do on the West-Coast unfortunately. It really pisses me off that users who only need small data packages so they can browse the web and check Facebook get absolutely gouged compared to heavier data users. 2 or 3 GB of data should cost less than $10/month based on the price points of the higher plans.

@MohammadIshfaqueJahanRafee

Жыл бұрын

I agree with almost all of it except volume pricing. Volume pricing have significant impact in Data. For example, people who have more data, have bigger portion as leftover. That counts as savings for Telco. Irrespective of you use 1 GB or 20 GB, maintaining continuous signal to your cellphone is same, the network coverage rollout cost is similar. So, yes there's definitely volume component in it. However, that still shouldn't count for the level of discrepancy you are talking about.

There isn't any real competition in Canada due to the oligopoly of the big three. I'm really concerned about the Shaw/Roger deal, as Shaw owns Freedom Mobile. The Competition Tribunal approved the deal on December 29, 2022. Freedom Mobile will be sold to Videotron. Consumer prices usually rise after business acquisition. I switched to Wind Mobile (now Freedom) 8 years ago and I hadn't switched back. If you were in the coverage area, Wind Mobile was amazing choice when it entered the competition over 10 years ago. It had everything unlimited for around $40; comparing to the competition at that time, huge overage fees for less than 2gb of data and 100 minutes for $60+. Now, none of the competition have overage fees for data which I believe we got Freedom Mobile to thank for. We need more competition. After MTS was sold to Bell in 2017 and since there is no other real competition, Bell rose back its prices and MTS prices in Manitoba.

In the UK, I paid £200 for a pre-paid SIM for 24 months service, for unlimited data -- 600GB/mo of 5G (avg speed over 400mbps), 4G unlimited thereafter. Price per month = £8.33 ($13.88), around $0.02 per GB @ 5G speeds. Includes unlimited calls/txts, and even free roaming in ~75 countries, many of which are also 5G. This is the total cost, including all taxes (20% of the cost). No contracts. No BS fees. No lock-in. Last month in Canada, my Rogers bill was over $250 for 2x lines, less than 50GB used (total 100GB allowance) and 4 days of US roaming. Price per GB used = $5. Yes, we are being shafted.

I own a company that regularly interfaces with Bell and Rogers in regards to providing network services for clients. We are continually facing all manner of incompetence and deliberate obstruction by the big three. Their installers regularily mess up clients alarm systems simply because they don't care, necessitating a costly service call on our part to repair our clients service. Rotating IP's on Bell services will routinely mess up a clients network unless we install a fixed IP network behind their modem. Good luck trying to interface with them regarding providing alternate small company services in spite of their being a mandate for them to do so. This has been going on for years with no resolution, and competing companies have simply learned to work around these deliberate obstructions, albeit at vastly expensive costs to us. Bottom line, the big three simply don't give a damn and will use all of their means to frustrate competition. That is a FACT...

I am still on a Plan From Wind Mobile it Became Freedom Mobile 29.00 Unlimted Data and Local Calling I'll never change plans

@ThePhilosophicalOne

Жыл бұрын

Same here. $32 and some change every month is all I pay. I'm never switching to anything different.

@gunit6815

Жыл бұрын

As soon as you leave town, you're at the mercy of the big three for away coverage. I looked into Shaw Mobile and it would end up costing me more than my Rogers plan

@dayanlaheramayo540

Жыл бұрын

Same here $30 they lower my plan from $60 and increased my data to 30GB was very surprised, I’m not giving the other companies a cent their excuses and greed it’s disgusting.

@abc10927

Жыл бұрын

@@gunit6815 Ifyou have an iphone you need to look into esims. You can load a second esim onto your phone while off their network. 3HK in Honk Kong offers about 50gb of data in north america for $45 and it expires in one year. Many Canadians are using this option. Yes, its cheaper to get an international esim then local plans.

@k_and_m8745

Жыл бұрын

I have worked for two telecommunications companies (one was Bell and the other a wholesale company) and can tell you they will loop whole it out eventually. Hopefully, when they do, there will be better options for customers and more competition.

Heck yes marketplace let's goo ❤️

@osmia

Жыл бұрын

+

My monthly bill for Bell was $62.00 for the longest time for 10 GBS. They kept bothering me to change the plan, but on one call, they mentioned my current plan wasn't available. Therefore, I needed another plan that cost me $89.00 for the same 10 GBS, which is ridiculous.

But all of those headaches melt away when you have an enterprise account.

In CanAada everything is so damn expensive than US for no reason. The salaries don’t match up to US but everything is expensive than US.

I'm sure Roger's buying shaw will make it better 🤣

Why are Canadian phone plans so expensive? 1) Canada has a massive landmass to cover, which is really expensive to set up the infrastructure required. 2) Collusion, there are 3 big companies that own and operate every service provider; Telus, Bell, and Rogers, if they all agree to not drop their prices they all make more money. This really isn't that hard of a question to answer.

people getting phones even with 0 down-payment and 0/month are usually screwed; you are overpaying for plans you most likely don't need; just get a phone you can afford (maybe used?) and choose whatever plan/carrier

I ❤️ this show. You guys do a great job 👏👏👏

I see similarities with internet packages as well. I used to be with Rogers cable and in the past I used to negotiate the price to match competitors and last time I tried they refused. The best they would do is a 75mbps line 105 bucks a month plus tax. I ended up switching to a competitor for the same package for 65 bucks a month. After I switched they called me no less than 5 times a day for 2 weeks asking me to come back to Rogers with them saying they will match the same price after I already switched. I didn't switch back as I already gave them a chance but they refused to budge till it was too late.

@stevenrburgoyne

Жыл бұрын

I had this happen. I asked Shaw to keep my same plan and price I had the past 2 years and they kept telling me no, it had to go up by like $40/month. I cancelled with Shaw and got Telus Fiber. Shaw then called the same day the Telus install finished and said they could give me a better deal. I asked why I was not offered that and I was told I did not ask for it. Told them too late but they kept insisting to switch back. I then called back Telus and told them what Shaw was offering to undo the switch and Telus then beat that price again, so I took the deal and stayed with Telus fiber.

@My_Old_YT_Account

Жыл бұрын

@@nsevv to be fair, Singapore is much much smaller than Canada

I took a trip to New Zealand and a trip to Australia, It was cheaper for me to pause my service and get a sim card from those countries than it was for my monthly service back home. I even got better service and better features.

@900Yugo

Жыл бұрын

Smart one! Save up to 90 percent on phone rates!

It's simple- the business establishment is an ologopoly. 5 big banks, 3 telecom companies etc. This country's business titans are allergic to competition and the government is all too willing to stifle it on their behalf. And average Canadians are too docile.

This is what happens when hands are shaking behind doors.

@larrybethune3909

Жыл бұрын

100%

You all in Canada have overseas customer care with your cellphone carriers?

As an international student who moved to Ontario, the mobile fee makes me robbed by the company every month, and the quality of their service and phone calls are the irony problems. In Taiwan, an unlimited data plan only costs you below CAD 30 monthly and effectively works in the mountain and beaches.

In my town just 45 minute north of Toronto bell and telus offer service but it is terrible unless you are directly beside a tower. Rogers has towers all over our town which basically if you have bell or telus in our town you're screwed for service.

This is so timely, and long overdue! Having recently returned to Canada from Europe, I was shocked by the 10 fold prices for any type of plan and/or data package. How about unlimited 4G LTE and 500 Minutes to any number, all for 15 dollars a month?

@vkdrk

Жыл бұрын

you have limits on calls in Canada? I mean aren't they always unlimited?

The heads of the CRTC all need to all go to jail for corruption, no parole. The fact so many come from telecom companies suggests even more collusion and kickbacks. Send them all to max security and seize their net worth.

Excellent video, as a newcomer in Canada, I am in shock.

That's what I thought when I first learned about the Canadian telecommunication plans

Every decade the media talks about this and nothing changes! The Canadian way.

In Malaysia, I pay equivalent of 11 Canadian Dollars per month for Unlimited local calls + Unlimited Data.

@WeTheNorthRaptors

Жыл бұрын

Unlimited data? Like over 100gb?

@hasibchowdhury1742

Жыл бұрын

That doesn't seem right, more like unlimited calls and texts. No company offers unlimited data, maybe its 10-15 GB or less.

This is a show we need more of

Wow. Why people live in Canada at all? Salaries are low, housing market as expensive as in the US, the queues for medical services are super long, even cell phone plans aparently start at 300$+. Doesn't really make much sense to me at all.

This is why I use pay as you go phone plan. I load like $25 in there and I can use it for half a year. Each call and text costs me $25 cents. But there are free wifi everywhere so I always wait until there are wifi at home or in store to reply to texts and call family and friends for free. Apps like WeChat let you call for free when you have wifi connected.

@My_Old_YT_Account

Жыл бұрын

Meanwhile in Europe they just don't have to care, why do we have to live worse than Europeans?

@me-fv5xb

Жыл бұрын

Thats what i do. There's also free services that give you your own number as well. Only reason i use the 25 dollar pay as go is because the 2fas no longer works with voip type number services.

@kevinneufeld5497

Жыл бұрын

Nice. I do something similar except use Shaw’s pay-as-you go for $10 per 3 months for 1GB, or $20 for half a year but with 2GB data. I use Shaw’s wifi hotspots and local wifi whenever I can. Pay-as-you go is definitely the way to go.

I wish the CBC showed this level of scrutiny when reporting the Shaw/Rogers merger story.

I’m Australian. We also have three big Telcos. Telstra, Optus and Vodaphone. Here, you can buy and own your phone outright from, say, Apple. These phones are not locked to a Telco, but I think if you buy a mobile from Telstra it’s locked to Telstra and no other SIM card works. You can also buy a phone and SIM card from a Telco on a contract. The monthly price varies depending on the phone and package. But the good news for Aussies is that there are second-tier service providers that offer bare bones online only prepaid sales of SIM cards only for a much cheaper service. My service uses Telstra wholesale for $AUD30 ($CAD28) a month unlimited phone calls and texts, with 32GB data, the unused portion of which rolls over and is banked to a max of 500GB.

I have a prepay cell phone plan with Kolbi here in Costa Rica. Every two months or such I remember that maybe I should make another $20 payment. Yes, I use very little data, but rates are still SO MUCH lower here. Do telephone companies still charge that 'system access fee' scam that I remember from living in Canada so many years ago?

Geez. This episode is making me feel bad for paying 5 canadian dollars, for unlimited txt/calls and 50 gigs of internet in Romania.

I'm still paying $35 + tax for unlimited data and I'm with Freedom.. trick? BYOD and stick with one telco for more than 10 years. Freedom would love to have me on a new expansive plan but they don't have the control. The moment you get a phone from telcos, you're hooked.

That's atrociously high. In my country Singapore, you can get phone plans of 100GB to 150GB for like between 8 to 12USD, and this includes some call time and SMS. And we have like 4 different telco providers even for our tiny country.

I live in the US and things aren't that much better here either. They are a bit cheaper but as soon as T-Mobile bought Sprint out all 3 remaining major networks increased their prices. The main networks de-prioritise service quality on the MVNOs & resellers like MetroPCS, Simple Mobile, etc.