OTTAWA – The CRTC is requesting specific information from mobile wireless service providers related to its investigation into international roaming rates, including specific agreements between Canadian and international providers.
A letter dated Thursday requests of over two dozen providers, including the big three, their active or most-recently expired roaming agreements, including number of subscribers; the rates in place, including pay-per-use call minutes, data, texts, daily and multi-day plans; how rates are set, including methodology and costing analysis; the rationale for past increases in rates; and payments made to roam on foreign networks between 2018 and 2022 and revenues generated from foreign networks operating in Canada over that time.
The answers are due July 7.
The request for further information comes after the CRTC said in March it was studying international roaming rates after a letter from Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne urged the regulator to look into it. The minister’s letter followed news that Bell and Telus were raising their international roaming rates.
The federal government said in its most recent budget that it will tackle “junk fees,” including roaming fees.
Last month, Videotron announced a $50 mobile wireless plan that includes unlimited talk and text and 40 GB of high-speed data that can be used in both Canada and the United States.
