Mobile Data vs. Home Internet
A family has smartphones but no home internet. They watch videos on small screens, struggle with homework that requires a computer, and carefully monitor data usage to avoid overage charges. For a growing number of Canadians, mobile data is not a supplement to home internet—it is their only internet.
Mobile-Only Households
Statistics Canada data shows that a significant minority of Canadian households rely on mobile data as their primary or only internet access. This is more common among:
Lower-income households: For whom the combined cost of home internet and mobile data is unaffordable.
Young adults: Who may move frequently and find mobile plans more flexible than home internet contracts.
Renters: Particularly in informal housing situations where installing internet service is difficult.
Rural residents: In areas where home internet options are limited or unreliable but mobile coverage exists.
Advantages of Mobile Data
Flexibility: Mobile plans do not require installation, contracts, or fixed addresses. Users can take their connectivity with them.
Lower entry cost: A smartphone is cheaper than a computer plus home internet setup. Mobile plans may have lower monthly costs than home broadband.
Simplicity: One device, one bill, one service—simpler than managing home internet plus mobile service separately.
Limitations of Mobile Data
Data Caps
Most mobile plans have data limits. Exceeding them means overage charges or throttled speeds. Users must carefully manage usage, avoiding activities that consume data quickly.
Video streaming, video calls, large downloads, and software updates quickly consume mobile data. Activities that are routine on unlimited home internet become costly or impossible on capped mobile plans.
Device Limitations
Smartphones have small screens, small keyboards (or no physical keyboards), and limited processing power compared to computers. Tasks that are straightforward on computers—writing documents, completing complex forms, managing spreadsheets—are difficult or impossible on phones.
While tablets offer larger screens, they still lack the functionality of full computers for many tasks.
Tethering Restrictions
Using a phone as a mobile hotspot for other devices (tethering) may be restricted or consume data rapidly. A family trying to share one phone's data connection across multiple devices faces severe limitations.
Network Reliability
Mobile networks can be congested, especially in dense urban areas or during peak times. Coverage varies by location and carrier. Rural and remote areas may have poor mobile coverage even where some signal exists.
Speed
While 5G promises high speeds, many users are on older networks or in areas where speeds are limited. Activities requiring sustained bandwidth may be impractical.
The Cost Comparison
Canadian mobile data costs are among the highest in the developed world. A mobile plan with enough data for a household's needs may cost as much as or more than home internet.
Low-cost mobile plans typically have tight data caps. Unlimited or high-cap plans cost significantly more. The apparent savings of mobile-only connectivity may be illusory when actual usage needs are considered.
Low-income programs like Connecting Families offer subsidized home internet, potentially making home service affordable where mobile data alone would cost more.
Educational and Employment Impacts
Students doing homework on phones struggle with tasks designed for computers. Writing essays, conducting research with multiple tabs, and participating in video classes are harder on mobile devices.
Job seekers face similar challenges. Applications designed for desktop browsers may work poorly on mobile. Preparing resumes, completing assessments, and participating in video interviews require capabilities mobile devices provide inadequately.
The mobile-only household is not just a matter of preference—it shapes educational and employment outcomes.
Policy Considerations
Policies focused on broadband access often emphasize home internet, treating mobile as supplementary. But for households that will not or cannot get home internet, mobile data policy matters more.
Reducing mobile data costs, increasing data caps, and ensuring mobile coverage in underserved areas could improve access for mobile-dependent users—but would not address the device limitations that make mobile inadequate for many tasks.
The Question
If mobile data has become the primary internet connection for many Canadians, then mobile data policy is digital equity policy. How should affordability programs address mobile-only households? What can be done about the device limitations that make mobile access inferior for education and employment? And is the goal universal home internet access, or should mobile-adequate access be considered sufficient?