Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- Top takeaways
- Market overview
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- Figure 1: Category outlook: mobile network providers, 2022-27
- Opportunities
- The mobile network industry is stable and consistent
- Post-paid plans dominate, and there is opportunity to upgrade to unlimited data
- Challenges
- Consumers are not yet convinced of 5G’s superiority
- Increasing price sensitivity in an industry where consumers look to cut costs
The Market – By the Numbers
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- Mobile wireless revenues are recovering post-pandemic
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- Figure 2: Quarterly mobile wireless revenues (billions), 2019-22
Market Factors
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- Mobile network usage, pricing and coverage
- Mobile data usage is increasing while prices decrease
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- Figure 3: Average monthly mobile data usage (GB), Q1 2019-Q1 2022
- Figure 4: Lowest average reported price of monthly mobile plans: 5GB, unlimited SMS/min (any speed), 2016-21
- 5G coverage is increasing, but not equally across the country
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- Figure 5: 5G network coverage, urban and rural vs overall, 2020
- Figure 6: 5G network coverage, by region, 2020
- Network outage sparks calls for change from Canadian government
- Inflation is a top concern for Canadians
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- Figure 7: Top concern over the next six months, 2022
- The work-from-home trend is becoming clearer
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- Figure 8: Working location, 2021-22
Competitive Strategies
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- The competitive landscape is evolving
- Videotron heads west
- Shaw to become part of Rogers, but cellular business is not included
- 5G-enabled devices will soon be ubiquitous
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- Figure 9: Made by Google Instagram post, 2022
- Marketing spend illustrates how provider strategies vary
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- Figure 10: Media channel spend ($000s) – Flanker brands, 2022
- Figure 11: Media channel spend ($000s) – Budget brands, 2022
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- Figure 12: Lucky Mobile Facebook paid advertisement, 2022
- Mint Mobile competes from the outside
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- Figure 13: Mint Mobile | Canada, 2021
Mobile Network Providers – Fast Facts
Mobile Phone Service Providers
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- The ‘Big Three’ lead the market
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- Figure 14: Primary mobile service providers, 2022
- Provider usage varies across races and cultures
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- Figure 15: Primary mobile service providers, by race, 2022
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- Figure 16: Primary mobile service providers, born in Canada vs not born in Canada, 2022
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- Figure 17: Primary mobile service providers, by language spoken at home, 2022
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- Figure 18: Fido online advertisement, 2022
- Figure 19: Fido online advertisement, 2022
- Leader brands skew to older consumers, flankers to younger ones
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- Figure 20: Primary mobile service providers, by age, 2022
- Parent brands struggle to attract new subscribers
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- Figure 21: Length of tenure with current service provider, 2022
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- Figure 22: Primary mobile service providers, among customers who have been with provider for one year or less, 2022
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- Figure 23: Primary mobile service providers, among customers who have been with provider for more than five years, 2022
Types of Mobile Plans
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- Most Canadians use post-paid plans
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- Figure 24: Type of mobile phone plan, 2022
- Pre-paid plans are particularly common among budget providers
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- Figure 25: Type of mobile phone plan, by provider, 2022
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- Figure 26: Lucky Mobile Twitter post, 2022
- Pre-paid plans skew to younger, lower-income consumers
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- Figure 27: Type of mobile phone plan, by age, 2022
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- Figure 28: Type of mobile phone plan, by household income, 2022
- Types of data plans: limited vs unlimited
- Unlimited plans are becoming more common
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- Figure 29: Type of mobile data plan, 2020 vs 2022
- Understanding the need for unlimited plans
- Unlimited plans skew to middle-aged and high-income consumers
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- Figure 30: Type of mobile data plan, by age, 2022
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- Figure 31: Type of mobile data plan, by household income, 2022
Satisfaction with Mobile Service Providers
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- Consumers are generally satisfied with their providers
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- Figure 32: Overall satisfaction with mobile service provider, 2022
- Koodo and Virgin perform well on overall satisfaction
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- Figure 33: Proportion of a provider’s users who are very satisfied overall, by provider, 2022
- Pinpointing categories to better understand overall satisfaction
- Performance metrics
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- Figure 34: Very/somewhat satisfied with provider’s coverage, by provider, 2022
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- Figure 35: Very/somewhat satisfied with provider’s data speeds, by provider, 2022
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- Figure 36: Very/somewhat satisfied with provider’s network security, by provider, 2022
- Value perceptions likely impact consumers’ broader attitudes towards a brand
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- Figure 37: Very/somewhat satisfied with provider’s price, by provider, 2022
- Customer service patterns follow that of performance and value
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- Figure 38: Very/somewhat satisfied with provider’s customer service, by provider, 2022
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- Figure 39: Very/somewhat satisfied with provider’s customer notifications, by provider, 2022
Provider Loyalty and Switching
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- Mobile networks are a generally stable industry
- Most consumers have no plans to switch
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- Figure 40: Interest in changing mobile network plan/provider, 2022
- Switching intentions are most common among 1-2-year tenures
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- Figure 41: Interest in changing mobile network plan/provider, by tenure with current provider, 2022
- Younger, diverse consumers are the most open to switching
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- Figure 42: Interest in changing mobile network plan/provider, by age, 2022
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- Figure 43: Interest in changing mobile network plan/provider, by race, 2022
- Intentions to switch providers are primarily driven by money
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- Figure 44: Reasons for interest in changing mobile network plan/provider, 2022
5G Usage and Attitudes
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- 5G data plans are gradually increasing
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- Figure 45: Current status of 5G, 2021-22
- Many consumers are not convinced of 5G’s superiority
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- Figure 46: ‘5G is not much more useful than 4G/4G LTE’ (NET: any agree), by age, 2022
- Using other devices to illustrate 5G’s utility
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- Figure 47: ‘It’s important to have a 5G connection for all of my non-smartphone devices’ (NET: any agree), by age, 2022
Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
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- Data sources
- Consumer survey data
- Consumer qualitative research
- Mintel Trend Drivers
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
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