Canadians have a “surprisingly high” degree of satisfaction with their mobile phone providers, somewhat contradicting various narratives, a survey by RBC Capital Markets found.
In the survey — which was conducted to understand how price variation affects demand in the Canadian market, given an ongoing climate of intense competition — the average score for satisfaction with wireless providers, as well as for price paid, was seven out of 10.
“For a Canadian oligopoly that frequently is cited among policymakers as having a notoriously high level of consumer complaints about service and/or price, our survey in contrast pointed to a surprisingly high level of consumer satisfaction,” noted the survey report, which was published within RBC Capital Markets’ 2025 Canadian telecommunications outlook.
The survey canvassed 1,009 Canadians in October. Beyond that average score, the report notes “a not insignificant percentage of respondents simply happy with their current service provider.” For internet service, the survey saw a similar seven out of 10 score for satisfaction, and a six out of 10 score for price.
Although the report acknowledges that “unquestionably there is significant room for customer experience improvement when dealing with Canadian telecom companies,” it argues that the quality of the wireless networks, an increase in consumer-friendly self-service platforms, and the availability of unlimited plans and “notably bigger wireless data buckets that have emerged over the last 12–18 months have all contributed to the higher-than-expected rankings.”
A consequence of the degree of satisfaction is that many respondents indicated they would consider switching wireless providers only if the monthly savings were $5 to $10, or more. The service attribute cited as very important by most consumers was reliability (61 per cent of respondents), edging out price (60 per cent) and speed (53 per cent). Those results were similar for internet service.
We believe the telecom value equation for consumers is not all just about price.RBC Telecommunications Services 2025 Outlook
Crucially, the report notes that “a majority of main brand and flanker brand respondents indicating that a $5–10 price differential is not sufficient to make them switch to lower-branded offerings,” which is to say that the perceived higher quality of service from main brands like Bell, Rogers and Telus and “flankers” such as Virgin, Koodo or Fido prevents many consumers from switching to a discount brand, even for significant savings.
“With reliability and speed being [quality of service] attributes that a majority of consumers value and with consumer satisfaction increasingly being driven by simply eliminating friction and having telecom services just work, we believe the telecom value equation for consumers is not all just about price,” the report said.
