CRTC considers regulating costly wireless roaming rates
Roaming rates paid by cellphone users when they’re travelling in Canada and the U.S. will get more scrutiny by the CRTC, which is considering possible new regulations as a result of consumer complaints.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission had set Friday as the deadline for more than 35 telecom companies to submit information that it says isn’t available publicly on rates, terms and conditions.
It did so after hearing consumers’ concerns that the cost of roaming on another carrier’s network could be unreasonable.
“A decision on whether there is a need to intervene will be made once the CRTC has reviewed the information it has asked the wireless companies to provide,” the CRTC’s Chris Seidl said.
The additional information will also help it determine the choices available to consumers and the competitiveness of Canada’s wireless industry, said Seidl, executive director of telecommunications at the CRTC.
Telecom analyst Eamon Hoey said he expects the CRTC to regulate roaming rates, adding it’s the beginning of more regulation for the wireless industry.
“Consumers are more than just a bit annoyed at the rates that they’re paying not only for basic cellular service, but for roaming, for additional charges, for contracts, you name it,” said Hoey, of Hoey Associates Management Consultants Inc., in Toronto.
Hoey also said Bell, Telus and Rogers didn’t do themselves any favours with consumers or the federal government with their publicity blitz against big U.S. carrier Verizon, which had expressed some interest in Canada’s wireless market but decided against coming north earlier this month.
Rates aren’t low enough, he said, adding that Canada’s wireless carriers “pay in pennies per minute” to foreign carriers such as Verizon, AT&T and U.K.-based Vodafone for their roaming agreements.
Rogers said it has provided the CRTC with the information it requested, but doesn’t know if it will result in regulated roaming rates.
“We know people find it complicated and it’s really hard for people to calculate how much data they’re using,” spokeswoman Patricia Trott said. “We’ve listened to customers.”
The CRTC also has asked carriers to list the top four U.S.-based carriers with whom their customers incur the most roaming traffic.