Canada's telecom industry may not be on the right growth path: A number of factors including high debt, combined with limited job prospects are making it difficult for the country's consumers to spend more on their telecom services -- limiting growth to just 0.4 percent in 2015, according to The Conference Board of Canada.
However, gains in the business segment partly offset weaknesses on the consumer front, while output growth in the telecom industry is forecast to pick up pace with an expected increase of 1.4 percent this year. "This, combined with sharp telecom price increases seen in the past couple of years, will likely prompt Canadians to review their telecom services and eliminate unnecessary options along the way," said senior economist Kristelle Audet, in a release.
The Canadian telecom industry's pace of growth is at a crawl now compared 2010 when it was over 4 percent. In particular, landline POTS revenue has fallen almost 40 percent in the past 10 years. At the same time, the pay-TV industry is also undergoing significant disruption as more Canadians view their content online. Despite these challenges, the Conference Board said that the industry's financials remain exceptionally strong. Release