1.
Win The Newcomers
2015 Newcomers Mobile Plan Usage Survey Report
Jian Zhu
SenecaSoMe Team
8 The Seneca Way, Markham, ON
Mobile: 647-­‐8982208
Email: Jzhu81@myseneca.ca
LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com/in/jameszhutoronto/en

2. Win
The
Newcomers
2015
Mobile
Plan
Usage
Survey
Report
in
Newcomers
Executive summary
To identify the market opportunities within the newcomers, including immigrants and
international students, for the wireless carriers in Canada, we designed and rolled out an online
survey, focusing on five key sectors in the mobile marketing campaign: Timing, Media, Product,
Price and Place. The key findings and corresponding suggestions include:
Ø Key Findings
o Two in three newcomers would make the decision within one week after arriving
o One in two of them received the suggestions from friends and relatives about
choosing the first mobile plan
o 84% of them had great demand on voice when they came to Canada
o Most of them chose a relative lower price for their first plan, women could
afford higher than men
Ø Recommendations
o Design a exclusive plan for the newcomers in their first year after arrive in Canada
o Plan a social media campaign to pass the message of “newcomer’s exclusive plan”
to the target audiences
o Collaborate with organizations that service the newcomers to publicize the new
plan
Background & objectives
According to the statistics from the Statistics Canada and Canadian Wireless Telecommunications
Association (CWTA), the Canadian mobile phone penetration rate is over 79%. Considering that

3. Win
The
Newcomers
2015
Mobile
Plan
Usage
Survey
Report
in
Newcomers
people aged less than 15 accounts for 16% of the total population, we anticipate the actual rate
will be higher. The subscriber numbers from the CWTA also displayed the decelerating growth of
net new users from all carriers, from about 1 million in 2012 to 760K in 2013, and only 500K in
first three quarters in 2014.
On the other side, data from Canada Government shows that there were 250K newcomers each
year from 20001
, and we are going to attract 23K more immigrants to total 285K at most in 20152
.
What’s more, the government also is rolling out new policies to drive the international student
population from 265K in 2012 to 450K in 20223
.
No doubt about that these groups of newcomer will need a new mobile number after they reside
in Canada. To win the newcomers in the market, carriers need to have accurate perspectives
about this group of target customers, roll out aimed campaigns and attractive products.
The objectives of this research will include:
Ø Identify when and why the newcomers will need a new number after arriving Canada, and
the difficulties in opening the accounts
Ø Identify the opportunity for carriers to win more newcomers
Methodology
This report relies on data collected in an original google-­‐form-­‐based survey of immigrants and
international students throughout the Canada, and an offline focus group survey of immigrants
conducted in Toronto. The online survey invitation was sent multiple times over Facebook
1
http://www.immigrationwatchcanada.org
2 http://www.cicnews.com/2014/11/canada-­‐aims-­‐attract-­‐285000-­‐immigrants-­‐2015-­‐114047.html
3 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-­‐columbia/canada-­‐wants-­‐to-­‐double-­‐its-­‐international-­‐student-­‐body-­‐1.2497819

4. Win
The
Newcomers
2015
Mobile
Plan
Usage
Survey
Report
in
Newcomers
groups, including International Students in Canada and Seneca College International Students,
and online forums, including forum.yorkbbs.ca and forum.iask.ca between Mar-­‐23 and Apr-­‐7.
The recruitment process yielded a total of 17 completed surveys. These are made up of 10
immigrants and 7 international students.
Note that not all respondents answered all questions, so the sample sizes in questions and figures
vary.
Survey Results
To rollout a successful newcomer campaign, carriers need detailed insights about Timing, Media,
Product, Price and Place, which our survey focused on:
Timing: how long we actually have to approach the targets?
• 67% registered the new number within 1 week, 92% in 1 month.
In 1 week
50%
In the first month
25%
Before landing
9%
Can't wait, right after I left the
airport or the border.
8%
after 1 year
8%
Q:When did you register your First Canada number?

5. Win
The
Newcomers
2015
Mobile
Plan
Usage
Survey
Report
in
Newcomers
• Students are more eager to get the new number than other categories, with 86% of
them would open the account within 1 weeks.4
Media: what media should we use to pass messages?
• Most of them relied on offline channels to receive the information or advises of mobile
plans, with 43% from friends and relatives, 29% from stores and 7% from service center.
4
Other categories include skill workers, family unions, etc. see the question for details.
0%
50%
100%
Other programs International Student Programs
Q: Which Visa helped you to Canada?
Q: When did you register your First Canada number?
After 1 year
In the first month
In 1 week
From relatives and
friends in Canada
43%
From walk-­‐in carrier
store
29%
From Internet
14%
From the Newcomer
welcome center
7%
From social media
7%
Q: Where did you get the information about your first plan?

6. Win
The
Newcomers
2015
Mobile
Plan
Usage
Survey
Report
in
Newcomers
Product: what services do they need?
• When asked how much voice and data they actually need after arriving, Newcomers
prefer voice than data, showing that 84% want 200 minutes and more, but 50% just
want 500M data or less.
Price: how much they chose to pay for the mobile service?
• When asked how much they would accept after arriving, most of the newcomers, 83%,
chose the price between $20 to $60; but female are willing to accept higher price than
male, with 57% female chose $40-­‐$60 and 60% male chose $20-­‐$40.
unlimited
42%
200
minutes
42%
50 minutes
8%
None
8%
Voice
unlimited
25%
3G
8%
1G
17%
500M
25%
none
25%
Data
From $20 to
$40(including $40)
41%From $40 to
$60(including $60)
42%
Less than
$20(including $20)
17%
Price
14% 20%
29%
60%
57%
20%
FEMALE MALE
Price & Gender
From $40 to $60(including $60)
From $20 to $40(including $40)
Less than $20(including $20)

7. Win
The
Newcomers
2015
Mobile
Plan
Usage
Survey
Report
in
Newcomers
• When asked what other services they want to include the most, 33% of them have
chosen the Home Country Voice package.
Place: where did they choose to open the account?
• Carrier stores and supermarkets are the top 2 channels that newcomers chose to
register their new numbers, with 37% and 27% respectively.
Recommendations
• Design new exclusive plans for the newcomers. We suggest at least 2 plans with the prices
at around $30 and $50. The former one includes Unlimited Voice Package and 500M Data
8%
8%
8%
17%
17%
17%
25%
33%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
ALL IN ONE PACKAGE
MOBILE TV
NONE
TEXT MESSAGES PACKAGE
VOICE MAILBOX
ROAMING PACKAGE
SHAREABLE DATA PACKAGE
HOME COUNTRY VOICE PACKAGE
Add-­‐ons
Carrier retail store
37%
supermarket
27%
Chain Electronics store
18%
Small electronics store
18%
Q: Where did you register your first Canada number?

8. Win
The
Newcomers
2015
Mobile
Plan
Usage
Survey
Report
in
Newcomers
package. The latter one adds an Unlimited International Call for one specific country and
extends the Data package to unlimited. Users apply this plan should provide valid specific
visas or government papers, like landing paper and can only apply 1 time.
• Plan a social media campaign to target the Canadians that have friends or relatives coming
to Canada lately, to influence them passing the “newcomer exclusive privilege” message
to their friends and relatives.
• Collaborate with visa offices in customs, international student service office in each
University or College and the newcomer services center to publicize the new exclusive
plan.
Annex
Web survey questionnaire:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uZ1WTeTqrH9JOeNmgdtCvxUV5-­‐nao-­‐
ss64xzmUnkOh8/viewform?usp=send_form