Thursday, May 3, 2012

Mobile Access: Canada falling behind India and China

According to a survey from Randstad found that Canadian workers are less connected then counterparts in India and China. According to the article, 76% of Canadians were connected. Although this is the majority, it is materially lower than the level of "connectedness" with counterparts in India and China where 93% of workers were connected. The article lays blame on the exorbitant fees paid by Canadians for the Internet in contrast to other countries (e.g. see this post which compares to the US. Besides the stats, US providers give 2-year contracts instead of 3 year contracts) . One of the factors that contributed to the adoption of the internet was the availability of unlimited dial-up access: users did not have to worry about rates, so they were more willing to adopt the new technology (e.g. users had to pay $20/month for unlimited internet in 1997). So price does matter when increasing the adoption of technologies. With the growth of mobile commerce in places like the UK, Canada could fall behind not just in mobile commerce but the overall development of local apps and mobile services.  



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