"In this study, we examine the comparative performance of mobile
wireless markets in Canada, the US and the EU. We find that Canada’s wireless
market is generally performing on par with the US, while the EU has fallen
behind both Canada and the US in recent years. As in the US, Canadian wireless
customers use their connections much more intensively (both in terms of voice
and data) than those in the EU, resulting in lower unit prices. The difference
in usage, in turn, is at least partially attributable to the more advanced state of
wireless networks in North America relative to the EU, i.e., the more rapid and
extensive deployment of next generation LTE networks. We also note that the
performance of the Canadian market needs to be viewed in the context of the
relatively high costs of deploying and operating wireless networks in areas with
low population densities. With respect to policies, we find that the relatively poor
performance of the EU market is at least partly attributable to policy choices by
the EC and national regulators, and that efforts to import EU-style regulation
into Canada, such as policies designed to artificially inflate the number of market
participants, would be counterproductive."