Wireless Code: $50 cap-and-cutoff on overage charges panned; pre-paid gets full airing

By Perry Hoffman

GATINEAU - Upstart wireless operator EastLink had its opportunity to address the contentious issue of a mandatory $50 cap on overage charges on customers bills as a way to prevent bill shock on day three of the CRTC’s wireless code of conduct hearing. The Commission’s draft wireless code calls for a cap on additional fees of $50 (usually driven by data usage), but also says that once the cap is hit, the service provider is to suspend all service so that no more charges are incurred. “We feel basically a cap is just not necessary or necessarily the best approach...