OTTAWA – Seven out of 10 Canadians don’t want the incumbent telephone companies to set their own prices for local phone service, according to a new survey conducted by a consumer watchdog group opposing telephone deregulation.
The survey asked 1,200 Canadians if they agreed with the statement, “My local telephone company should be able to charge what it wants for monthly local telephone rates without having them approved as reasonable by the CRTC.” Four percent strongly agreed, and 16% agreed. But 36% disagreed and another 36% strongly disagreed. (Seven percent had no opinion, and 2% either didn’t know or refused to answer.)
The poll was conducted by Pollara for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) to use in its presentation to the CRTC during its public proceedings into how local phone service should be regulated.
“The big telephone companies, like Bell and Telus have lately been extremely aggressive in lobbying the government to do away with consumer protection for local telephone service,” said Michael Janigan, PIAC Executive Director and General Counsel, in a statement. “The telephone companies say because there is already enough competition consumers don’t need the CRTC to protect them. Most Canadians do not agree.”
An almost equal percentage (69%) of those surveyed did not agree that ILECs should be able to charge what they want for features such as call answer, call display, and call waiting without CRTC approval.
Curiously, though, 59% of respondents thought that local phone rates should be primarily determined by how much competition there is in their local telephone service market. And a whopping 81% of those surveyed felt the local service rates should be primarily determined by what it costs to provide the service.
“A majority even disagreed with the idea that the cable company can provide enough competition to allow deregulation, an idea currently accepted by the CRTC,” Janigan said. The poll found that 52% of respondents disagreed with the statement, “The local telephone company and the cable company will provide sufficient competition for my local phone service to protect me without the need for the CRTC to ensure reasonable rates or quality of service.”
Among other survey results:
* 74% said long-distance customers should not be required to pay system access or network access fees in addition to long-distance charges (which the commission does not require ILECs to charge)
* 68% felt these access charges should be eliminated and all charges for LD use be included in a total “all-in” price
* 76% would not be wiling to cancel their local home phone service and only use a cell phone—only 3% of all respondents have actually done so already
* 85% would not be willing to cancel their local home phone service and use only voice over Internet phone—only 1% of all respondents have actually done so
The CRTC will hold a public hearing in Gatineau starting on Oct. 10 into the price cap regime for ILECs.
