Perfect. There we go.
Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be here this morning to represent the wireless industry.
The pandemic has altered the lives of Canadians. It has changed the way we work and access critical services. It has also highlighted how vital telecommunications services are to our health and safety, and to sustaining the country's economic and social activity.
During the current crisis, Canada's facilities-based providers have been focused on ensuring Canadians can continue to rely on the high-quality networks and services to which they are accustomed. Years of investing in network infrastructure have resulted in networks that are incredibly resilient in the face of intensified traffic and altered use patterns. In fact, according to Accenture, 90% of Canadians surveyed said their service provider's response to COVID-19 has met or exceeded their expectations.
While the vast majority of Canadians have access to reliable advanced telecommunication services, the impact of COVID-19 also highlighted the fact that some communities remain underserved. Closing this gap in connectivity is imperative, as the future of many communities and their citizens depends on having Internet access and being able to participate in the digital economy. That is why, working in partnership with governments at all levels, Canada's facilities-based carriers are continuing to expand telecommunications infrastructure into hard-to-serve communities.
But just as today's network performance is the result of past policy decisions, securing access to high-quality and affordable telecommunications services for all Canadians requires the right regulatory framework, one that balances the three key objectives of quality, coverage and affordable prices. Canada's telecommunications policy has long recognized the importance of facilities-based competition as the best way to drive competition while also encouraging the level of private sector investment needed to build world-class networks.
In Canada's mobile wireless industry, facilities-based competition has resulted in intense competition amongst national and regional network operators. This has led to a steady decline in prices, higher-quality service and expanded coverage. For example, according to the CRTC, the price per gigabyte of mobile data declined by 56% from 2015 to 2018. PwC has also recently estimated that the introduction of unlimited data plans is expected to reduce the cost per gigabyte of data by 50% from 2018 to the end of this year.
Equally important, Canada's facilities-based carriers are continuing to invest in upgrading and expanding the reach of Canada's wireless networks. To date, Canada's facilities-based wireless providers have invested over $50 billion in capex to build Canada's wireless networks and have also spent more than $20 billion on spectrum costs.
As a result of these investments, Canadians enjoy the world's top-performing mobile wireless networks. Even in rural areas, Canada's networks perform better than the overall networks in most other countries, including all but one of the G7 countries.
With respect to coverage, the CRTC reports that 4G LTE coverage was accessible to 99% of Canadians where they live as of the end of 2018. CRTC data also shows that rural 4G LTE coverage has expanded rapidly over the last few years, increasing from 35% in 2013 to reaching 95% of Canadians living in rural communities in 2018.
We know that more work and more investments are needed to expand our networks and to introduce 5G, yet at a time when investing in the expansion and upgrading of Canada' digital infrastructure is more important than ever, regulatory measures are being considered that, if they proceed, will discourage private sector investment.
With respect to the wireless industry, the CRTC is currently deliberating over whether to require wireless network operators to give resellers, or MVNOs, access to their networks at regulated rates. PwC has estimated that this will have a major impact on capital expenditures and that the communities that would be disproportionately impacted by these cuts are those that are the hardest to serve.
While other developed countries are implementing policies and strategies to accelerate the rollout of 5G, it is estimated that mandating MVNO access in Canada would reduce the effective coverage of 5G in Canada by 2030 by 20%. This delay would result in an estimated cumulative loss of at least $57 billion in GDP. Simply put, mandated access, and particularly mandated access at less than arm's-length negotiated rates, negatively impacts network operators' capacity to invest in digital infrastructure.
Let's build a stronger Canadian digitization economy.
Thank you.