OTTAWA – Canada’s biggest telecom companies have joined forces in calling for a national set of standards to regulate wireless contracts.
In a shared position statement submitted to the CRTC on Thursday, the regulatory heads of Bell, Rogers, Telus as well as the Public Interest Advocacy Center (PIAC), on behalf of the Consumers’ Association of Canada and Canada without Poverty, said that there is “a clear need” for the Commission to “lead an initiative involving all stakeholders with the ultimate objective of bringing cohesion and uniformity to this area for the benefit of consumers and the industry alike”.
Noting that five provinces have either enacted or announced plans to implement consumer legislation around cell phone contracts, the group said that a single, uniform consumer protection standard “would address the demand for consumer protection in the most economically and administratively efficient manner”.
As Cartt.ca reported, the CRTC has asked for comments on whether to develop a national retail wireless services consumer code. This follows a move by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) back in 2009 to implement a code of conduct amongst its members.
Canada's largest telecommunications union, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), has thrown its support behind the idea of a national wireless code, estimating that consumers have lost as much as $4 billion due to a lack of regulation in the telco industry.
"There is more wireless competition in Canada now than there has ever been, yet prices have not dropped and services are not improving”, CEP’s submission reads. "We need a national telecommunications strategy with a long-term vision that protects consumers, our jobs and our culture."
– Lesley Hunter
