Telus calls on CRTC for national consumer guidelines for wireless customers

Telus Communications Co. has asked the CRTC to introduce national guidelines that it says will make the wireless phone industry more cost-efficient for carriers and more transparent to consumers. In a submission filed with the commission Wednesday, Telus said a patchwork of provincial and territorial laws governing wireless carriers in Canada is costing wireless carriers more than necessary and that consumers end up paying for those costs. “TELUS and other wireless service providers (WSPs) that operate nationally face the prospect of multiple, conflicting standards for a range of marketing, contracting, and billing matters depending on the province where they operate,” Michael Hennessy, the company’s senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs, wrote. “TELUS considers that consumers across Canada should benefit from the same baseline standards regarding wireless services, and that the Commission is best positioned to determine those standards.” Manitoba has introduced a five-year plan for stronger consumer protection that includes provisions for mobile users. Quebec also passed a law related to wireless services in 2010 that said cancellation fees for mobile phones cannot exceed the discount the customer received when the phone was purchased. Telus proposed the commission impose standards for contract terms and conditions as well as changes to contracts and contractual documentation; customer obligations to pay for service charges while wireless devices are being repaired; advertising of service rates and data consumption limits; the use of paper invoices; warranty information; and customer notifications. “TELUS notes that many of these items relate to enhancements in transparency that would empower consumers to make more informed choices among the many competitive alternatives available to them,” the company wrote. The company’s submission came in response to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s (PIAC) application in January that asked the CRTC to force wireless carriers to remove 30-day notice requirements in their service cancellation policies. PIAC said it was concerned about cases where wireless subscribers try to switch providers but are then required to continue paying their carrier for a month after they wanted to stop using the service. Telus said it does not currently charge customers for a full month after they ask to cancel their services, but said it supports a commission inquiry into that issue and similar ones. “TELUS supports the development of common national standards applicable to all WSPs and encourages the Commission to develop such standards through a public process,” Telus wrote. “A CRTC proceeding would provide consumers and interested governments the opportunity to participate in the standards-setting process as they historically have in respect to the development of Terms of Service for various communications services.” Such a regulatory framework, the company said, would probably fall within the commission’s powers under the Telecommunications Act so long as the commission did not attempt to impose pricing standards for wireless carriers in competitive markets. “While price-related aspects of wireless services should of course remain … standard transparency-oriented terms and conditions regarding matters such as those above would benefit both and consumers across Canada,” Telus said. news@thewirereport.ca

Telus calls on CRTC for national consumer guidelines for wireless customers

News | February 9, 2012

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