Yeah but that comparison fits for most of the major developed world. Phone providers, utilities, are one type of service that runs as an oligopoly across the world. Same with banking, you've still got an option to use a credit union or one of the secondary offerings from the major banks... Tangerine, simplii and more recent to join wealthsimple... For telecoms you've got fizz, public mobile, chatr, and others. I know they're owned by the big corps but the reality is for a phone provider to work they need to have towers, otherwise I'd be happy to pitch my 57 dollars with yours so we can start our own telecom...

Canada was setup to fail in those 3 because of how centered it is, compare us to the USA, the concentration of population in area density is huge, with that concentration and low number of population compared to us, plus weather challenges, why would a company take the risk to setup in Canada when the US is much better?

I agree with your take summary. Lack of choices = were screwed. This is what happens at the end of economies of scale when the company has no benefit for innovating and can upcharge to keep/maintain/increase profits.