Smartphone Thoughts: Canadian Data Prices Heat Up

"Rivals to Canadian provider Rogers Wireless are dramatically lowering the prices for data access as a defensive measure against the iPhone even before the device is announced for the country, according to a new report by the analyst firm Seaboard Group. A comparison of the access rates required needed to download 1GB of data per month shows the prices dropping dramatically since June: where customers could expect to pay more than $2,250 for the Internet bandwidth at the time, a price drop by Telus in mid-summer dropped the price to $375. By November, both Telus and its fellow CDMA carrier Bell were charging about $100."

As much as we would all like to think that the price is dropping thanks to Apple, that's just not the case. Price is dropping as the adoption rate increases. It's just that simple and like it or not, Canada is just a fraction of the size of the US market. So it will take a while until our prices can match those of the major US carriers from a couple years ago. From what I've read, the new $7 plan isn't new after all it's just $7 for WAP access. Who uses WAP anymore?