Just having SaskTel and pre-Bell MTS in Canada is enough to tell you the population density argument is absolute crock. SaskTel's prices come in way lower than the big 3 despite having the lowest population density behind Newfoundland and Labrador.
Canadian government recognizes its incredibly bad and have been commissioning annual "Price Comparisons of Wireline, Wireless and Internet Services in Canada and with Foreign Jurisdictions" studies. They are very interesting reads. Here is the summary from the latest one:
https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/693.nsf/eng/00182.html
The report is what the Liberal government has been using to wack the Big 3 with the mandatory 25% drop in prices in two years. Looks like there has been a drop, but not sure if this is because of competition from Freedom/Shaw or the government mandate.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wir...fees-1.5484080