CCTS report shows overage compliance concerns

The struggle for some wireless service providers to get up to speed on managing data overage caps was quantified in a telecom watchdog report Tuesday, which showed results related to certain Wireless Code rules that elicited two providers to ask the CRTC for more time to implement. There was a 27 per cent increase, or 338 instances, this year where a wireless service provider’s compliance with data overage rules were raised, the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS) said in its annual report Tuesday. The same issue saw a “modest” 15 per cent increase in confirmed breaches — corresponding to 15 cases — of that aspect of the code compared to last year. “In last year’s Annual Report we raised our concern that at least one service provider was multiplying the $50 data cap threshold by the number of devices activated on the shared plan, thereby significantly increasing the total additional data charges that could be incurred by the customer,” the report noted. The report comes just days before the Friday deadline to implement requirements of the new Wireless Code, which the CRTC released in June. Section E of the code stipulates that service providers must, by default, cap domestic data overage at $50 and international roaming at $100 and must get account holder approval for anything over those limits. “We informed that the data overage charges had to be capped at $50 per monthly billing cycle regardless of the number of devices activated on the account, but it continued this practice,” the report noted. In July, Rogers increased its overage fees by $20 to $70 per gigabyte. BCE Inc. charges a similar rate. This month, Rogers filed a Part 1 application asking the CRTC to extend the deadline for it to implement the Section E changes to its bill management system by May 31. The report found that billing was the leading issue for both wireless and internet services complaints. Rogers noted in its application the practical difficulties in implementing those changes to mixed-line accounts — those that have a blend of shared data buckets through its Share Everything plans and single or more than one single lines. It added it was having issues including consolidating data add-ons and pay-per-use services under data caps. Only days later, Telus Corp. followed with its own Part 1 application to have the deadline to implement the same changes to its billing system by March 31 on a similar basis, giving support to Rogers in its application. It said it was still testing the new system and it needed time to transition the billing system from device to “account level aggregated calculation.” Companies addressing Rogers’ application largely supported it, attesting to the difficulties of implementing such a system. But in an intervention to Telus’ application filed last week, Bell noted that if Telus and Rogers are to receive extensions to implement Section E, then all wireless players should have the same privilege. It said that it supports Telus’ extension to March 31, but all wireless service providers should get the same terms and same deadline. This would “minimize the inevitable consumer confusion that will arise if different wireless service providers are governed by different rules,” Bell said. The CCTS report found that it wasn’t Rogers but Bell that took top spot with 128 alleged breaches of data overage charges, amounting to 37.9 per cent of alleged breaches and 35.7 per cent of all complaints. Rogers was second with 64 alleged breaches and 18.9 per cent of alleged breaches and making up 11.8 per cent of all complaints. Bell and its flanker brand Virgin, which had 12.4 per cent recorded alleged breaches, accounted for half the total breaches in this area. Rogers and its flanker Fido, which had 9.2 per cent of alleged breaches, accounted for 28 per cent. Telus took home 9.5 per cent of alleged breaches, making up 6.9 per cent of all complaints. “Together, these five providers represent 90 per cent of all alleged breaches of , a number disproportionate to their overall share of complaints,” the report said. Section E also touches on international roaming caps and the requirement that providers notify customers when they are roaming. “Although we report no confirmed breaches of this section, concerns about compliance with this requirement were raised 112 times in 2016-2017, an increase of 42% compared to the year before.” Despite these concerns, the wireless segment saw alleged breaches investigated down 40 per cent and confirmed breaches down by 65 per cent over the year. And despite questions of compliance with the code increasing eight per cent over the year and wireless services still being an area that garnered the most number of concerns, the report noted its proportion of all issues has declined for a third straight year. However, that is seemingly being picked up by internet services complaints, which made up 31 per cent of all issues. Notably, the number of issues related to that segment increased 38 per cent to 5,763 complaints compared to last year and made up 31 per cent of all issues, which has been on an upward trajectory for the seventh year in a row, the report noted. The report cited Bell raising the price of its internet, phone and TV service in February, which resulted in a “large increase in the number of Bell internet complaints we received.” It said 47 per cent of all internet issues were raised by Bell customers, with Rogers accounting for only nine per cent. John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), said in a Tuesday press release that the increasing number of internet complaints ought to motivate the CRTC to create an “Internet Service Code” to regulate internet service providers. “Internet service looks like wireless prior to the Wireless Code: many complaints about changing contract terms, overcharging and early cancellation fees,” Lawford said. The report noted other leading concerns across the major segments, including contract dispute and service delivery, second and third leading issues, respectively, for the wireless and internet segments. Last year’s report continued a string of declining complaints, which lasted three years. This year’s report, however, bucked the trend with an increase of 11 per cent to just over 9,000 accepted complaints, of which the CCTS resolved 91 per cent. The report also noted that consumers raised a total of 18,448 individual issues, an increase of 17 per cent compared to last year. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Bryson Masse at bmasse@thewirereport.ca

CCTS report shows overage compliance concerns

News | November 28, 2017

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CCTS report shows overage compliance concerns

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