CRTC seeks views on pay phones
Regulator rejects price increase while consultation is underway
In a sea of smartphones, oldfashioned phone booths are increasingly hard to come by, and Canada’s telecom regulator said Tuesday it is launching a public consultation on the role of pay phones in the communications system.
In a decision released Tuesday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission also denied a request from Bell Canada and its regional affiliates to increase the price of a phone call at public pay phones.
The CRTC blocked BCE Inc.-owned Bell Canada, Bell Aliant and Télébec from raising local pay phone rates up to $1 for cash calls and up to $2 for calls charged to plastic forms of payment.
Under a price-cap regime, phone companies can currently charge up to 50 cents for phone calls using cash and up to $1 for local noncash calls.
The companies had asked for permission to increase rates to help recover costs related to making pay phones compatible with the one-dollar coin issued in 2012.
They also said the price hike would stave off plummeting revenues and reduce the pace at which pay phones are removed from communities.
But after a public proceeding that concluded in January, CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais was not convinced raising the rates would make enough of a difference.
“This trend is likely to continue regardless of the rate charged for pay phone services and highlights the need to reassess the role of pay phones,” Mr. Blais said Tuesday.
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre intervened, arguing that higher prices would disproportionately affect lowincome users.
The regulator is seeking general submissions on the role of pay phones, due Oct. 22 and in the meantime it is asking for comments, due Aug. 13, on whether to ban phone companies from removing the last pay phone in a community.