Again, there is far less risk with a state monopoly than a private one. State is accountable to the people at least to some extent, while a private enterprise is fundamentally not. Given that markets favor monopolies, and especially in sectors where large investments are necessary there is no argument to be made regarding a private competitive market as being a viable alternative.
And of course, you have to compare SaskTel to prices in Canada as opposed to Austria. If you look at a map then you’ll see that Saskatchewan has an area of 651,900 km² compared to 83,871 km² of Austria. Saskatchewan is also far less densely populated. This means the cost of infrastructure is much higher.
You can look at overall pricing differences between countries here. Both US and Canada have terrible pricing.
Again, there is far less risk with a state monopoly than a private one. State is accountable to the people at least to some extent, while a private enterprise is fundamentally not. Given that markets favor monopolies, and especially in sectors where large investments are necessary there is no argument to be made regarding a private competitive market as being a viable alternative.
And of course, you have to compare SaskTel to prices in Canada as opposed to Austria. If you look at a map then you’ll see that Saskatchewan has an area of 651,900 km² compared to 83,871 km² of Austria. Saskatchewan is also far less densely populated. This means the cost of infrastructure is much higher.
You can look at overall pricing differences between countries here. Both US and Canada have terrible pricing.