OTTAWA – The CRTC has turned down a demand by Rogers Communications to revise the Wireless Code and exclude certain wireless service contracts for corporate individual plans and employee purchase plans.
The Commission said Friday that it is denying Rogers’ application to review and vary Telecom Decision 2014-528 (referred to as the Corporate Plans decision), as the big media company “failed to demonstrate” that there is substantial doubt as to the correctness of that decision. In that decision, the Regulator (a) reiterated that the Wireless Code applies to retail mobile wireless voice and data services provided to individuals and small businesses, and (b) clarified that the Wireless Code applies to all contracts between an individual and a wireless service provider where the individual is responsible for some or all charges related to the contract.
Rogers had also requested that wireless service contracts for corporate individual plans and employee purchase plans entered into between December 2, 2013 (the date on which the Wireless Code took effect) and October 8, 2014 (the date of the Corporate Plans decision) not be subject to the Wireless Code until their contract term expires. The Commission denied that request as well.
The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS), which administers the Wireless Code on behalf of the CRTC, issued a statement saying that it “acknowledges” the CRTC’s ruling regarding the Code’s applicability to corporate or employee service plans.
“We intend to review the decision in its entirety,” said CCTS Commissioner and CEO Howard Maker, in the statement. “The CRTC chose us to administer the Code, and necessarily we make interpretations on both its applicability and its contents. Today’s decision brings added clarity to our job.”
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