21.5 million Canadians have a cell phone

The final numbers are in and Canada now has a total of 21.5 million wireless subscribers, or 67% have a cell phone. CWTA has put together some great highlights in their latest report:

– Wireless phones are the among the fastest growing consumer products in history.

– At the end of December 2008, Canadian wireless phone subscribers numbered 21.5 million, representing a national wireless penetration rate of more than 67%. CWTA research estimates wireless penetration in major urban centres has exceeded 70%, with some greater metropolitan areas approaching the 80% mark.

– Despite the atypical distribution of Canada’s relatively small population across our vast land mass – and perhaps because of it – Canada has been and remains a world leader in communications networks and technology. And for an industry that is just two decades old, Canada’s wireless phone industry, in particular, has made remarkable progress. Together, Canada’s wireless carriers now offer coverage to more than 98 per cent of Canadians.

– Customers in Canada continue to enjoy prices that are below or close to the average wireless prices across the 30-member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). According to the OECD’s recently published biennial Communications Outlook 2007, Canadian customers fare significantly better than their neighbours in the US and Mexico in almost all usage categories.

– Two-thirds of Canadian households have access to a wireless phone.

– Canadians send 77 million text messages per day.

– Each year, Canadians place more than 6 million calls to 9-1-1 or emergency numbers from their mobile phones.

– Wireless revenues in Canada totalled $12.5 billion in 2007.

– Half of all phone connections in Canada are now wireless.