Telus introduces its own wireless affordability certification

Telus Corp. says it has already met and exceeded the Liberal Party’s goal for reduced wireless prices, though the figures it cites pre-date both an industry-wide drop in wireless pricing, and government’s announcement of the benchmarks it will use. The prices used by Telus are from a document released by the Liberal Party during this fall’s federal election, which uses data from the 2018 edition of the government’s annual wireless pricing report. Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains has since clarified that the government wants prices to drop 25 per cent from where they were in December 2019, though the government has not released specific benchmarks. The issue of precisely when to measure the 25 per cent drop from is a key question, given that prices have been falling since the introduction of unlimited plans this past summer, in line with a global drop in wireless pricing. Starting on Friday, Telus began branding a set of phone plans as having met the federal government’s goal for reduced wireless prices. The Telus web site affixed a “federal wireless affordability” stamp to some of its phone plans, and said “the stamp means our plan lines up with the government benchmark for wireless affordability.” By Monday, the branding and language had shifted. The stamp is now labeled “True North Affordability,” and the associated web page now reads that the “stamp means our plan lines up with the Liberal Party benchmark for wireless affordability.” A spokesperson for Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said that the government had not yet set a specific benchmark for what prices it wants to be at least 25 per cent lower. “We look forward to working with companies on achieving our goal of reducing prices for Canadian consumers and will have more to say on the benchmark in the near future,” Veronique Simard said in an emailed statement Tuesday. The starting point for the 25 per cent reduction goal has been the subject of considerable confusion since the Liberals first made the promise during the election. After several months of uncertainty about the starting point of the 25-per-cent drop, Bains told the Canadian Press in January that the rates will be measured from December, around the time he received his mandate letter. A financial analyst covering the telecom sector, who spoke on the condition of anonymity last month, said that there was continued uncertainty around what exactly the government was seeking. “It looks like the government keeps moving the rules of the playing field a little bit,” the analyst said, adding that there is still confusion about what types of phone plans would need to be reduced. “Is the fixation somehow 25 per cent at least for every price point in the marketplace as you go across the options? Or is it going to be, for example, isolated more toward the lower end of the market?” the analyst said, pointing to the reductions that have occurred in the marketplace recently. He also said that given the price drops that have already happened, including $75 “unlimited” plans, it’s a “non-starter” that these “price points are going to come down over the next two years. It’s just: forget about it.” Telus did not respond to requests for comment. — With reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Telus introduces its own wireless affordability certification

News | February 11, 2020

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Telus introduces its own wireless affordability certification

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