Who will win the wireless war? The battle begins today.

CRTC holds public hearing

Canada’s major wireless providers and consumer advocacy groups will square off Monday over whether consumers need better protection concerning their wireless services.

The Canadian Radiot elevision and Telecommunications Commission commences its review of the three- year- old wireless code at a four- day public hearing in Gatineau.

The first iteration of the code, introduced in 2013, l argely killed three- year cellphone contracts and slashed roaming and data overage fees. It enabled consumers to switch providers more easily, but came with the side effect of higher monthly bills as providers moved to recoup the cost of subsidized phones more quickly.

While industry and consumer groups generally agree the first wireless code was effective at eliminating consumers’ most- prevalent gripes and reducing official complaints to the telecommunications ombudsman, t ensions exist over how much, if at all, the telecom regulator should tweak the code.

Wireless data is expected to be at the centre of the debate. Usage has skyrocketed in the code’s short life, jumping more than 40 per cent in the 2015 alone, according to the most recent CRTC data.

Nearly half of Canadians ( 46 per cent) paid fees for exceeding their data limits in the last year, according to a TNS Canada survey commissioned by the CRTC.

“Managing data overages in a way that prevents additional fees continues to be a struggle for many Canadians,” TNS Canada reported. “Initiatives that address managing or reducing overages may be of particular relevance and interest to Canadians.”

A coalition of consumer groups hopes the CRTC will address data in its review. It argues the code is “more important than ever given certain changes in the market” and could be updated to deal with inadequate disclosure and billing practices for wireless data.

Yet the volume of complaints has dropped since the code was introduced, falling 18 per cent from 2015 to 2016 alone, according to the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services.

Wireless providers will use that to bolster their arguments that the code is comprehensive, working and the CRTC should largely leave it alone.

Many providers have pre- emptively introduced data management tools so consumers can better predict how much data they’ve used.

Industry players who spoke on background acknowledge, however, that the CRTC will likely address problems that arise from increasingly popular family plans. The account holder, typically a parent, can receive massive bills if a child busts their data limits.

Both industry and consumer groups agree t he CRTC should clarify its authority when the code clashes with provincial rules.

MANAGING OVERAGES CONTINUES TO BE A STRUGGLE.