Christensen Associates Benchmarks Wireless Telecom Cost Drivers for Canada

Categories: News, Studies

February 5, 2020 - Mark Meitzen and Nicholas Crowley

TELUS, a Canadian national telecommunications company, engaged Dr. Mark Meitzen and Nick Crowley of Christensen Associates to conduct a benchmarking analysis of wireless telecommunications cost drivers in G7 nations. Their team compiled sets of macroeconomic data from major global institutions for a technical econometric study and provided comparative analytics accessible to non-economists. The study found that high capital, labor, and spectrum costs in Canada, influenced in part by challenges associated with climate and population density, underlie Canada’s wireless prices. In their National News Watch op-ed, Meitzen and Crowley offer an economic perspective informed by this empirical work, explaining how primary cost drivers together with operating environment costs impact the price of wireless service. Their work highlights how Christensen Associates combines technical expertise with economic theory to provide actionable economic insights.

Meitzen and Crowley’s report to TELUS is available here.

Dr. Meitzen and Mr. Crowley subsequently produced a 2022 Update of the study using contemporary data.