The “Canada - Telecoms, Wireless, Broadband and Forecasts” annual publication profiles the fixed-line, wireless and broadband markets in Canada and also examines the convergence of these technologies with each other and with digital media. The emergence of new telecommunication services such as VoIP also finds a mention in the publication.

In the early 2000s, Canada’s telecoms sector was one of the most advanced in the world. However, by 2009 Canada’s performance in areas like broadband penetration and wireless penetration started to lag behind its OECD counterparts. Even though the number of Canadian households with Internet access that use broadband connections reached 95 percent in 2009, in the last six years Canada’s position in the OECD has slipped from second place to tenth place. In addition, Canada’s broadband is ranked the third most expensive in the OECD. Moreover, total telecom service revenue grew only 5 percent during 2007. The final figures for 2008 are expected to be even lower due to the economic downturn. The reduction in traditional fixed-line sector is attributed mainly to switching of subscribers to wireless, cable telephony and non facilities-based VoIP services.

Even though wireless subscriber growth is slowing down, wireless revenues are not affected greatly due to strong wireless data revenue growth. In addition, Bell Mobility and TELUS (News - Alert) decided in 2008 to invest in an estimated USD1 billion GSM network. Such an upgrade will bring substantial benefits to wireless consumers like greater choice of handsets and also lower the costs involved in switching between operators, thereby facilitating new entry as well as greater competition between the incumbents. The upgrade will be shared between the two companies and is expected to be a major development for the industry in 2010.

 

The report estimates that wireless and broadband together will account for more than 60 percent of total telecom industry revenues in 2009. Cable companies will continue to make gain significantly in local telephony markets as their cable telephony subscriber growth remains strong. It is also estimated that cable telephony will account for around 20 percent of total residential lines by the end of 2009. Even though wireless subscriber growth is predicted to be only around 6-9 percent, wireless revenues will continue to remain in double-digit growth during 2009. This increase in revenues will be due to the support by growth in data services like SMS and MMS.

 

The telcos have been slow to deploy IPTV (News - Alert) despite the fact that IPTV is an essential service in order for the telcos to compete in the triple play market. Even though there were five IPTV providers in Canada by 2009, the number of IPTV subscribers is estimated to be less than half-a-million. The major reason for this is that the rate of IPTV deployment is greatly dependent on the rate of deployment of FttH and FttN networks, out of which FttH is largely limited to Greenfield MDU developments. In addition, Bell’s FttN deployment targets of passing four million homes by 2008 have been extended till 2012.