Telecommunications services producer price indexes (TSPPI)

Detailed information for second quarter 2022

The telecommunications services producer price indexes are quarterly series that measure changes over time in the prices received by telecommunications service providers for fixed telecommunications services (except Internet access), mobile telecommunications services and cable, satellite and other program distribution services.

Data release - October 12, 2022

• Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

The telecommunications services producer price indexes (TSPPI) are quarterly series that measure changes over time in the prices received by telecommunications service providers for fixed telecommunications services (except Internet access), mobile telecommunications services and cable, satellite and other program distribution services. The indexes are available at the Canada level only.

The TSPPI series are useful indicators of economic activity in the telecommunications subsector. These indexes are primarily used by the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts to arrive at estimates of real value added gross domestic product for the industry and to measure changes in productivity.

A price index for fixed Internet access services is not available at this time. Work is ongoing to evaluate alternative data sources to properly account for changes.

Upon release of the TSPPI data for the third quarter of 2018, the producer price index for mobile telecommunications services has been suppressed while the methodology is under review.

Reference period: The time period for which the telecommunication services producer price indexes equals 100; currently this is the first quarter of 2020.

Subjects

• Information and communications technology
• Prices and price indexes
• Service price indexes
• Telecommunication industries

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population of the survey consists of the largest telecommunications service providers classified in subsector 517 - Telecommunication of the North American Industry Classification System 2017. This subsector comprises establishments primarily engaged in providing telecommunications and/or video entertainment services over their own or over networks operated by others.

Instrument design

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Sampling

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Data sources

Data are collected from the Quarterly Survey of Telecommunications. Responding to this survey is mandatory.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .

Error detection

During data processing, subject matter specialists review the collected data to identify and resolve errors, inconsistencies and outliers. In addition, they confront the price information with other available data sources to identify and resolve invalid and inconsistent data.

Imputation

Missing price data are generally estimated by a systematized imputation process. In any given period, price data for some companies in the survey sample may not be available, generally the result of survey non-response or reporting inaccuracies. In these cases, the missing cells are replaced by a weighted average of survey data from the companies that did respond. This is referred to as "parental imputation."

In certain cases, imputations are made by subject-matter experts. These imputations are normally made based on values from company financial reports or other sources of information. These are referred to as "manual imputations."

Estimation

Producer price indexes are estimated for three different telecommunications services. These services are based on Statistics Canada's Supply and Use Product Classification.

Fixed telecommunications services (except Internet access): This price index covers both local and long-distance wireline ("landline") telephone services across Canada. This index does not cover either Voice over Internet Protocol services or data and private line services.

Mobile telecommunications services: This price index covers mobile telephone voice (including SMS/MMS) calling services and cellular data transmission services. These plans encompass smartphones and rocket hubs, as well as mobile phones with voice and data service but excludes mobile subscriptions with browsing plans. Includes all sticks (prepaid & postpaid), PC cards, laptop/notebooks with mobile Internet built-in, rocket hubs (data only), iPads (prepaid & postpaid), other tablets, and smartphones/phones with data only plans.

Cable, satellite and other program distribution services: This price index covers subscription television services across Canada. The index covers cable, national direct-to-home satellite services and other program distribution services, such as Internet protocol television.

Prices
The companies that respond to the survey will provide both revenue and quantity information pertaining to each of the three different telecommunications services.

For each company, and for each service, prices are computed by dividing the company's revenue value by the corresponding quantity value. The prices are thus defined as average, or "unit value" prices.

Fixed telecommunications services (except Internet access): for local calling services, the quantity is the total number of local and access lines provided; for long-distance calling services, the quantity is the total number of long-distance minutes billed.

Mobile telecommunications services: for wireless data services, the quantity is the total number of megabytes of data transmitted over mobile devices; for wireless voice services, the quantity is the total number of mobile voice minutes billed.

Cable, satellite and other program distribution services: the quantity is the total number of broadcast distribution subscribers.

Price Relatives
At the most detailed level, price relatives are computed by dividing, for each company and for each service line, the price in one quarter by the price in the preceding quarter.

Weights and indexes
Price indexes are calculated for each service line as a weighted average of the company-level price indexes. The weighted average is calculated using the individual companies' revenue values corresponding to the various service lines provided.

The weights used in the indexes are annual weights. The weights used in the computation of the price indexes for a particular reference period correspond to the companies' respective service line revenues from the previous calendar year.

The telecommunications services producer price indexes weights are updated annually and are introduced for the first quarter of each reference year when the second quarter indexes are released.

Quality evaluation

Prior to publication, the telecommunications services producer price indexes is analyzed for comparability with historical trends, as well as for coherence with results from other related data, known current events and information from external sources.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

Confidentiality analysis includes the detection of possible direct disclosure, which occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed of a few respondents or when the cell is dominated by a few companies.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

With the release of second quarter data, all data for the previous year is subject to revision.

With each release, data for the previous quarter may have been revised.

The indexes are not seasonally adjusted.

Data accuracy

The telecommunications services producer price indexes use data derived from the Quarterly Survey of Telecommunications based on a methodology designed to control for errors and reduce their effect on estimates. Processing procedures for editing and imputation are in place to ensure the quality of the data. Consequently, the indexes for all levels of aggregation are considered to be statistically reliable.