Slashdot Mirror
CRTC Unveils New Wireless Code To Protect Canadian Customers
FuzzNugget writes "The CRTC has unveiled a code of conduct that brings many positive changes for Canadian wireless customers, most notably:
1.) Carriers must provide the option to unlock a cell phone after 3 months for subsidized phones within the contract period, or immediately if the device was purchased outright.
2.) Contracts are now capped at two years, and cancellation fees are limited to the amount of the subsidy.
3.) Carriers can no longer charge outrageous data overage and international roaming charges. Without explicit consent from the a customer, such charges are capped at $50 and $100 per month, respectively."
1.) Carriers must provide the option to unlock a cell phone after 3 months for subsidized phones within the contract period, or immediately if the device was purchased outright.
2.) Contracts are now capped at two years, and cancellation fees are limited to the amount of the subsidy.
3.) Carriers can no longer charge outrageous data overage and international roaming charges. Without explicit consent from the a customer, such charges are capped at $50 and $100 per month, respectively."
I hope the U.S. follows.
I am going to predict that this is going to be a devastating blow to their profits. Back when BlockBuster instituted "No Late Fees" I knew they were doomed. Basically they were profiting on bad luck and stupidity of which people are never short. So then BB had to profit from providing a quality service. Doomed!
How many people are suckered into overpaying in all kinds of creative ways. The locked phone for instance must keep many people from switching carriers. So I don't see the big three going bankrupt but I do see their profits taking a bigger hit than even they see coming in that they have probably fooled themselves into thinking that they are making profits in ways other than taking advantage of bad luck and stupidity.
Or Aboot Time (?)
Rampant corporate misbehavior has so desensitized the public that weak half measures are applauded. The chance your carrier will break into your house, light your dog on fire and crap on your carpet has been somewhat reduced. Rejoice!
My Handspring Visor PDA lasted just shy of ten years. I expect my Android phone/PDA to do the same.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Currently though the telco in Brazil is likely charging Rogers/Bell/Telus $1.50 for the $50G of data and Rogers/Bell/Telus turns around to charge the customer $50,000. Joking aside, the code does not say the telco couldn't cut you off after you incur so much roaming fees.
With the way things are now in the US, it might be a good idea to buy Canadian phone service and "roam" in the US.
Actually, with the actions of T-Mobile lately, it's almost as if they were anticipating this. There are no cancellation fees... no more contracts. If you decide to stop being a T-Mobile customer, you just have to pay for the phone you bought through them if you haven't already.
The roaming and overage charge caps are new though.
I don't expect providers to hope that I'll stay with them long enough to pay for a subsidized device. Instead, offer me a discount for staying with you after I've paid for the device, or if I bring my own. Otherwise, why not just get a new device every 2-3 years.
If "brazil telecom" charges exhorbitant roaming fees to the canadian carriers and provides no mechanism to cut users off when they reach their roaming limit then the canadian carriers need to either negotiate a better roaming deal with "brazil telecom", or stop enabling roaming to "brazil telecom" by default.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
They'll just shut off your data roaming once you hit the cap.
This may sound like a stupid question to some...
When going to Europe, I would get a burner phone as it was cheaper than paying roaming/data fees. Since they must now unlock the phone (in my case, an iPhone), does that mean that when I now go to Europe all I need to do is buy a SIM card/service from a local cell provider and stick it in my iPhone and it will work?
It's better to burn out than to fade away
According to TFA on this point:
2. Cap on data roaming charges
i. A service provider must suspend national and international data roaming charges once they reach $100 within a single monthly billing cycle, unless the customer expressly consents to pay additional charges.
ii. A service provider must provide this cap at no charge.
I would hazard a guess that in this case, most telco's would suspend service once you've reached $100 in charges. Either that, or your consent to pay more will be found as part of the conditions in your next contract.
Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
A lot of Americans are complaining about their American telecom service. But aren't American monthly phone and data plans far far better than Canada?!
There is a cap except if you agree to a higher charge. This just stops them from automatically charging you outrageous fees based on fine print rather than explicit consent.
In your Brazil example, you'd have a teeny cap, then a window would pop up, "From this point on, Brazil charges $700/Gigabyte. Do you accept?"
Dirty Harry: "Well, do ya...punk?"
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
The CRTC has opted to not make this retroactive to existing contracts, so if you're currently on a contract, you're still screwed until it ends, and you've got to wait out the entire preexisting term and can't use the new 2 year cutout.
upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
Or Aboot Time (?)
-Eh?
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
Can we please kill this stupid joke?
I was born and raised in Canada. I am a proud Canadian through and through. I have never heard a Canadian pronounce aboot instead of about. I have travelled coast to coast, and have never heard it. Ever.
Sorry, just needed to get that off my chest.
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
Canada is way more fucked on the telecom regulatory/monopoly end than the US will ever be...
Fascinating. Perhaps you could expand on that a bit? Verizon had a "special" 700Mhz spectrum LTE that is incompatible with AT&T and Canadian 700Mhz LTE whereas in Canada, the CDMA carriers all switched to HSPA+ back in late 2009 rather than waiting for a CDMA compatible iPhone. So even back in 2009, Canadians could get an iPhone or other HSPA+ smartphone on a choice of several carriers whereas Verizon customers had to have a special CDMA version and then they managed to screw up LTE with compatiblity by having LTE handsets that used CDMA for voice.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Why do you assume everyone always needs more functionality?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
To some American ears, our "about" sounds like "aboot" but to my ear, some of their "abouts" sound like "abauwt".
2.) Contracts are now capped at two years, and cancellation fees are limited to the amount of the subsidy.
Bell, Telus and Rogers announced that you can now get the iPhone 5S and the Galaxy S5 for $300 on two years, or $10000 outright. That's a subsidy of $9700.
You have the option to cancel anytime, provided that you refund Bell, Telus or Rogers that $9700 subsidy they were so kind to give you in the first place.
They did cover off this dodge, at least:
G->2.->ii) When calculating the early cancellation fee,
a) the value of the device subsidy is the retail price of the device minus the amount that the customer paid for the device when the contract was agreed to; and
b) the retail price of the device is the lesser of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price or the price set for the device when it is purchased from the service provider without a contract.
"I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
Apparently my "sorry" is where an accent is more apparent for some Americans I know. And it's not just because they don't know the word :P
I can't see where it says that the carriers have to comply with this code under penalty of law...am I missing something?
I can definitely see that being able to claim that your company complies with the Code would be a great advertising feature, but what's to stop them from saying "that's nice" and continuing on with business as usual?
As per the wikipedia article on the CRTC:
Regulation of telephone service
The commission currently has some jurisdiction over the provision of local landline telephone service in Canada. This is largely limited to the major incumbent carriers, such as Bell Canada and Telus, for traditional landline service (but not Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)). It has begun the gradual deregulation of such services where, in the commission's opinion, a sufficient level of competition exists.[11]
The CRTC is sometimes blamed for the current state of the mobile phone industry in Canada, in which there are only three national mobile network operators – Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility, and Rogers Wireless – as well as a handful of MVNOs operating on these networks. In fact, the commission has very little to do with the regulation of mobile phone service, outside of "undue preference" issues (for example, a carrier offering a superior rate or service to some subscribers and not others without a good reason). It does not regulate service rates, service quality, or other business practices, and commission approval is not necessary for wireless provider sales or mergers as in the broadcasting industry.[12] Moreover, it does not deal with the availability of spectrum for mobile phone service, which is part of the Industry Canada mandate, nor the maintenance of competition, which is largely the responsibility of The Competition Bureau.
So...they're expanding their mandate?
Hmm...interesting times.
"I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
The current situation is better. If you buy a $100 prepaid, the minutes last a year; even if you don't touch the phone. If you are a super light user / emergency user $100 year isn't too bad. Works out to around $8/month. If you aren't using more than $100 in minutes a year you only even have to think about it once a year.
The Canadian government seems to hold near-monopolies in very high favour. The result is always that the customer gets screwed completely. The Telephone industry here is a great example.
"The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! "I never said throw it away." You may as well have.
You mock his outdated hardware, then suggest he give it to someone else? So you can mock them for their outdated hardware? It's not good enough for him but it's good enough for someone else? As long as it does what he needs it to do, why does he need to upgrade?
You know Koodoo is the alias Telus set up so people they'd screwed over under the Telus name would still do business with them, right?
Damn fucking straight! It's time we destroy these stupid stereotypes people have about use Canadians...
Goddamn it...
UTF-8: There and Back Again