[ooboe]

Considering things from the mobile perspective (but largely true for internet too):

> Yes, most of it is empty and unserviced

Well, that's the key, isn't it. Look at the highly optimistic coverage maps from the companies and you'll see how little of Canada is covered. Actual coverage is significantly poorer than those coverage maps indicate outside urban areas.

> but building a national network costs the same amount no matter how many users it has

These "national" networks are a few paltry routes across the country and in no way compare to the national networks of other countries.

The most obvious counter to the apologists' landmass argument is the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan where mobile rates were half that of the rest of Canada despite having lower population densities than most of the other territories. They both had robust state-owned companies that competed with the big 3 (likely soon to be big 2) and all 4 profitably operated at these lower rates. In a very controversial move, the state-owned company in Manitoba (MTS) was privatised in 1996 and bought out by one of the big 3 in 2017. A few years later the rates in Manitoba rose to match the rest of the country. This highlights the real reason for expensive mobile in Canada.