OTTAWA – The CRTC will rule on Telus’ controversial network access fee tomorrow and Cartt.ca will have complete coverage of the decision.
The CRTC is reviewing the new fee Telus added to local phone bills after competitor Yak Communications filed a formal complaint last year. The commission has also received complaints from over 400 B.C. residents since the $2.95 charge was added to phone bills last November.
The monthly fee to access Telus’s long-distance network is charged to customers who haven’t signed up for long-distance calling plans with Telus or any of its competitors.
Customers are charged whether or not they make long-distance calls. Previously, people without long-distance plans paid only the toll on their calls.
While long-distance charges are now deregulated, the CRTC says it’s studying the new fee to ensure it doesn’t break the rules.
Yak is urging the CRTC to return to regulating long-distance rates, revoke the new access fee and refund the money already charged to customers since its introduction in November.
Telus has responded by claiming that the new fee covers the cost of providing a reliable long-distance network and doesn’t fall under CRTC’s regulations.
