Rogers blinks, withdraws telecom application on walkaways

Rogers Communications Inc. withdrew its telecom application from the CRTC on Friday, which had requested that cellphone customers take their balances with them when switching phone companies. Since 2007, wireless customers can take their phone numbers with them when they change carriers. However the practice increased the number of unpaid balances left with former carriers--especially from unpaid contract cancellation fees. The application, if it succeeded, would have ensured that customers who leave one carrier with unpaid charges would still have to pay those fees with their new carrier. "We withdrew it because it became clear that the other carriers weren't going to support it," Jan Innes, Rogers vice president, public affairs, told The Wire Report. Innes denied the decision to retract the application was motivated by pressure from the other wireless carriers. "We just looked at its likelihood of moving along, and decided that it probably wouldn't," she said. But Telus Corporation spokesperson Jim Johannsson was not convinced. When asked whether he thought Rogers bowed to pressure from competitors, he said: “I don’t want to speculate. But that’s what they did.” Canada's wireless market is bracing for more competition. New entrant Wind Mobile is offering contract-free cellphones. Rogers told The Wire Report Thursday that the application was the right thing to do because it's not fair to leave previous carriers with unpaid bills. Telecommunications consultant Mark Goldberg said most players in the wireless industry aren't interested in acting as self-regulated collection agencies. “The industry, frankly, would not likely be interested in acting as a collection agent for each other,” he told The Wire Report. Michael Janigan, executive director and general counsel at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), a consumer advocacy group, said he thinks the application originally seemed intended to address consumers who walk away from contracts. “It’s in response to market share loss and the fact that customers with long-term contracts have been exiting the system,” he said. --With files from Jonathan Migneault

Rogers blinks, withdraws telecom application on walkaways

News | January 22, 2010

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