OTTAWA – While the CRTC’s recently introduced Wireless Code states that it will apply to new wireless contracts beginning December 2, 2013, it now appears the Commission expects Canada’s wireless carriers to begin operating by the spirit of the code well before that date.
“The six month transition period was established to allow the industry to adjust its business practices to bring them into line with the Code. Carriers are free to implement any part or parts of the Code prior to the 2 December 2013 implementation date,” the CRTC wrote in a letter this week to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association.
“It would be surprising that in October of 2013 a customer would be offered a plan with a device subsidy with a 36 month term as that would be contrary to the spirit of the Code and the development of a more dynamic marketplace,” the CRTC said.
The above comments are part of the CRTC’s response to concerns posed in a June 12 letter to the Commission from CWTA president Bernard Lord, who had asked for clarification after citing concerns about certain sections of the code and how they would apply to contracts.
The comments pertain to Lord’s request to explain by way of two sample scenarios about how the code would apply to hypothetical customers who have signed three-year contracts prior to December 2.
The CWTA’s concern stems from the wording of two paragraphs in the Wireless Code:
Paragraph 368, which states in part: “…the Commission determines that all aspects of the Wireless Code will take effect on 2 December 2013.”
And paragraph 369, which states in part: “… In addition, in order to ensure that all consumers are covered by the Wireless Code within a reasonable time frame, the Wireless Code should apply to all contracts, no matter when they were entered into, by no later than 3 June 2015.”
Lord questioned whether or not the use of the discretionary word “should” in paragraph 369 meant the Wireless Code is intended to apply on a mandatory basis to contracts signed before 2 December 2013 in relation to the June 3 2015 date.
In its response, the CRTC wrote: “As clearly indicated in the Regulatory Policy, the Commission determined that full implementation of the Code in June 2015 would strike a reasonable balance between managing the transition for WSPs and ensuring that there is no undue discrimination against those customers already bound by a wireless contract….It is clear that the Commission intended the final 3 June 2015 implementation date to be a mandatory date.”
