OTTAWA – Not only is the NDP taking the credit for Rogers’ decision to begin unlocking its customer’s mobile phones, it’s now calling on Bell and Telus to keep up with both its competitor “and the rest of the world”.
NDP MP Bruce Hyer (Thunder Bay-Superior North) called Rogers’ decision a “major reversal of policy” and credited the move to public pressure created from his private member’s bill known as the Cellphone Freedom Act introduced in June. The bill calls for telecom companies to ‘unlock’ fully purchased phones free of charge at a customer’s request, and unlock subsidized phones when a customer’s contract ends.
“Network locks limit consumer choice and are bad for market competition,” Hyer said in a statement. “Wireless customers can’t just go to another carrier with their phones and use them on another network, even if they’re not on contract. These locks are a way to digitally chain customers to one company, and they artificially restrict competition.”
Rogers quietly introduced the new policy last week which allows customers to pay $50 to have their phones unlocked if their contacts have expired or if they have paid the full, unsubsidized cost for their handset.
Calling Rogers’ policy change only “a partial victory”, Hyer said that the federal government must “do more to prevent predatory and anti-competitive practices on the part of Canada’s major telecommunications companies”.
“This is just a first step in modernizing Canadian telecoms and ensuring fair pricing and services for all Canadians”, he added.
