Bell, Rogers, and TELUS raising rates due to weak Canadian Dollar

Dec 19 2017, 11:02 am

Canada’s big three mobile carriers are raising their rates this month.

Rogers, Bell, and TELUS will increase – or already have increased – the cost of their mobile plans due to the falling Canadian Dollar, according to spokespeople for each company.

Bell Mobility increased the cost of consumer rate plans by $5 on January 12, 2016 and increased their Mobile TV offering by $3. These changes, however, are not applicable to existing plans but only new customers and renewals.

TELUS has also upped their plans for new customers and renewals by $5 and cited not only the Canadian Dollar as a reason but also the annual multi-billion-dollar investments required to keep up with the growing demand for wireless data.

Rogers says their plans for new customers have increased by “generally $5” and came into affect earlier this month.

All three companies emphasize that only new customers and those renewing contracts will be affected.

“The price changes reflect the impact of the low Canadian dollar, which has greatly increased our network buildout costs,” said Bell Mobility spokesperson Jason Laszlo.

“Most network equipment suppliers are international companies that price in U.S. dollars, as do most smartphone manufacturers. Bell invests more than $3 billion in capital each year to expand our broadband networks, far more than any other company, and we’re consistently rated as having the best mobile network in Canada.”

A basic iPhone plan with Bell and Rogers now starts at $80 a month, plus taxes, for unlimited local calling, unlimited text messaging, and 500 MB of data. TELUS charges $80 for 300 local minutes, unlimited texting, and 1 GB of data.

DH Calgary StaffDH Calgary Staff

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