New legislation and regulations needed to deal swiftly with “industry misconduct”: Senate told

Tougher laws that curb identify theft, protect children from mobile marketers and promote greater competition among wireless providers are among the recommendations tabled by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) last week as part of study of Canada’s wireless sector by the Senate Transportation and Communications Committee. Appearing before the committee Oct. 7, PIAC executive director and general counsel Michael Janigan conceded that the state of Canada’s wireless marketplace “is not that dreadful”, although he said it “exhibits a kind of mediocrity of performance for customers that belies the very lucrative nature of the service... We have to identify the reasons why we have not been a (global) leader.” He blamed outdated laws and regulations, as well as resistance from Canada’s big three wireless providers, for a lack of competition that is resulting in higher mobile rates, weak consumer protection and, in some cases, “flabby and inefficient” service providers. On the issue of high roaming charges, Janigan said Canada is lagging other countries in adopting a universal policy to protect wireless users. He recommended Canada follow the lead of the European Union which has placed a cap on certain rates that carriers can charge for their services, and introduced mechanisms to prevent unexpectedly shockingly high cell phone bills. “(The EU) approach makes pricing simpler and more predictable for consumers, and, in our view, would encourage growth in the consumption of wireless services. As well, the game of extra charges with meaningless labels like system access fees should be abolished. All?in prices for services should be required exclusive of taxes,” he told the committee. Europe has set a cap on mobile roaming calls of €43 for making a call and €0.19 for receiving one. The new rules also cap the price of text messages that are sent from one country to another, and require lower prices for surfing between countries. Janigan also criticized Industry Canada for its decision in August to scrap a taxpayer-funded online wireless calculator that matched consumer needs with various service plans. “The fact that the best prices for services generated by the calculator were generally not those of the major players, we were told, had nothing to do with the opposition to its implementation,” said Janigan. “Industry Canada capitulated and, despite the investiture of some $1.4 million in its design by the government, it will not be put in place.” Industry Canada said in August that the project was killed because of technical limitations that made it “highly improbable to ensure that Canadians were being presented with current and relevant data”. Calls for better consumer protection On the issue of consumer protection, Janigan again pointed the finger at Industry Canada, saying a December 2006 policy direction from then Industry minister Maxime Bernier has made the problem worse by withdrawing the CRTC from many consumer protection requirements. “We need a new act and new rules across the board to provide standards and deal swiftly with industry misconduct,” he said. “In this interregnum, certain persistent abuses and problems flourish and our new telecom ombudsman body, CCTS, Commissioner Complaints for Telecommunications Services Inc., has yet to find its feet in a substantial fashion.” Similarly, he recommended that Canada follow the lead of Quebec’s government and introduce legislation than bans most forms of advertising, including mobile marketing, to children under 13 years old. Asked by Senator Pana Merchant (Lib) what steps are needed in the wireless area to protect consumer’s personal information, Janigan recommended a new law that criminalizes certain behaviour related to identify theft and possessing or trafficking in credit card account information. PIAC is also pushing for the creation of a national fund that would subsidize the cost of broadband to many rural and remote regions. Such a fund, said Janigan, could be paid for through tax revenue, or from some the $4.25-billion in proceeds from Industry Canada's Advanced Wireless Services spectrum auction. Senator Janis Johnson (CPC) asked Janigan whether he thought the CRTC serves the public interest. He said it does, but stressed there are jurisdictional limits. The Telecommunications Act, in particular, puts the emphasis on deregulation when it should be on access, affordability and consistency of service across Canada, he explained. “We think that some of these problems could be remedied with legislative reform. We also think that there are necessary measures that have to be brought to bear to ensure that consumer protection rules are put in place across the board for all providers and the act is not focused on a monopoly incumbent – it is focused on everybody.”

New legislation and regulations needed to deal swiftly with “industry misconduct”: Senate told

News | 10/14/2009 6:06 pm EDT

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