Frequency of overage charges trending back up, survey suggests

The federal government released the findings of a 2018 public-opinion survey meant to assess the effectiveness of the Wireless Code this week, revealing that one out of two Canadians have paid mobile plan data overage fees at least once in the last 12 months, while one in four continue to suffer from “bill shock.” The results of the survey commissioned by the CRTC indicated bill shock was likely to happen to mobile subscribers with a four-person family plan, with 26 per cent of family plan users experiencing unexpected costs on their bills versus 13 per cent on individual agreements. In the previous survey done in fall 2016, overall bill shock was reported by only 21 per cent of respondents, as opposed to this year’s 24 per cent, showing unexpected costs are back on the rise. There was no report in 2017. The survey follows efforts by the CRTC to reduce the phenomenon. Last year, as part of its Wireless Code review, the telecom regulator mandated the phones be sold unlocked — under the assumption subscribers would be able to switch plans when they roam — and instituted data overage caps at $50 and international roaming overages at $100 unless the account holder consents to additional charges. But awareness of the Wireless Code’s consumer protection efforts accounted for less than half of Canadians. Overall, 50 per cent of respondents said they did not recall the existence of the code. What’s more, the survey notes that data overages and international travel were the leading causes of bill shock. The roaming fees continued to prove challenging for Canadians, with one in five indicating that they find it very difficult to manage them -- in line with 2016 results. And the trend of data overages and bill shock continued to occur despite 77 per cent of respondents saying their data is easy to manage. When asked about data management strategies, and letting respondents select each answer that applied, 95 per cent said they would switch to Wi-fi, and 74 per cent reduced their data usage when they were approaching their data limit. Tools developed to track data usage was only selected by 55 per cent of respondents. When it comes to unlocked devices, instituted in the new Wireless Code, one in three Canadians still have devices which only work with one provider, according to the results. As well, the number of people who didn’t know if their devices were locked came in at 22 per cent, “suggesting some education around this issue may be required,” the report said. On changing providers, 16 per cent of respondents said they had done so in the last two years, with one in every two switching because there was a better deal with a competitor. Other reasons for switching included not being happy with the current provider at 19 per cent and 13 per cent needing a new phone. A large majority found it easy to change providers. However, of the 13 per cent who didn’t, half said it was due to technical issues, and 14 per cent said it was because of the high costs of terminating their current contract. Only eight per cent answered that difficulty retaining their telephone number gave them issues while changing providers. The survey also found only 12 per cent of respondents said their service provider unilaterally changed the terms of service without them knowing. Complaints ticked up slightly since the fall 2016 survey, with 18 per cent of Canadians having registered an issue with either their provider or the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS). The survey also asked about awareness of the basic TV service after it was mandated by the CRTC in 2015. It found that 54 per cent of respondents did not know of the option to purchase an entry-level option. Additionally, the survey found that 56 per cent of respondents could not recall “hearing or seeing anything about” the 2016 Television Service Provider Code, which came into effect last year. The survey was performed and gathered by market research company TNS Canada between Jan. 26 and Feb. 8, with a cost of roughly $80,000 and recieved by the CRTC on March 1. It contacted 1,345 Canadian adults from a representative random landline sample. It has a margin of error of plus minus three per cent, 19 times out of 20. — With reporting by Bryson Masse at bmasse@thewirereport.ca and editing by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca

Frequency of overage charges trending back up, survey suggests

News | June 7, 2018

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Frequency of overage charges trending back up, survey suggests

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