Small firms call for crackdown on junk fees by Big Three

The CRTC has started receiving interventions in its consultation on stopping activation and modification fees for wireless carriers. The traditional mobile companies argue they are not violating current rules while competitors want the commission to throw the book at the Big Three. Quebecor Inc. subsidiary Freedom Mobile has come out squarely in favour of the prohibition of fees, as outlined in CRTC regulatory policy 2026-43. The call comes in the form of a four-page intervention filed by the fourth national carrier on Monday. It also wants a full public hearing on the topic, backing similar calls from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications. “Since March 2023, wireless service prices have fallen by approximately 31.6 per cent, while the Consumer Price Index rose by 7.8 per cent over the same period,” Peggy Tabet, vice president of regulatory and environmental affairs wrote. “Freedom Mobile has also committed to offering plans at least 20 per cent more affordable than those of the incumbents in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario over a ten-year period, and it fulfilled that commitment in the very first year. Videotron’s three wireless brands now reach nearly 83 per cent of the Canadian population, and the company recently recorded the industry’s best net subscriber gains, with nearly 287,000 new lines over twelve months.” The company, which is in the middle of an advertising campaign against the so-called junk fees, points out it either has never had the charges, or removed them once the commission policy came into effect. Other carriers are disguising the fees under other names, Freedom alleges. Backing Freedom is competitive carrier Iristel Inc. In its four-page application, Iristel CEO Samir Bishay writes that the use of fees by the Big Three sets a dangerous precedent and administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) should be imposed on the old guard. “This is not a case of inadvertent non-compliance,” Bishay stated. “In the proceeding leading to the policy, the companies represented to the commission that they could manually waive fees of this kind at the point of sale while updating their billing systems, and the commission relied on that representation in setting 12 June 2026 as the date by which the new protections would be enforced.” Iristel makes an exception for the $25 shipping cost initiated by Rogers Communications Inc., arguing such a charge is reasonable under the circumstances. For its part, Rogers questions the procedural fairness of the whole proceeding. Even though the commission denied Rogers’s entreaties, the Toronto telecom said it would continue to participate in this session. Senior vice president of regulatory affairs Dean Shaikh maintained that Rogers's use of $40 device setup charges and a SIM card replacement fees are not new and do not fall under the rules set up by the regulator. “The commission is mandated by the Act and the policy direction to ensure that its regulatory measures are transparent, predictable, and coherent,” the firm said. “The commission cannot, in Rogers’ submission, conclude the regulatory policy transparently, predictably, and coherently prohibits the device setup charge, the SIM card replacement fee, and the shipping charge.” Shaikh went on to state that AMPs are not warranted as they would contravene the precedents set by the CRTC. The regulator issues AMPs for compliance, not as punishment. BCE Inc.’s Bell Mobility is under fire for its $40 device handling fee. The company said three questions arise from the consultation: has Bell committed a violation; should the firm’s officers or directors be held liable; and what are the appropriate enforcement measures. “The answer to all three questions is straightforward: No, Bell has not committed a violation, and accordingly, no finding of liability or imposition of enforcement measures is appropriate,” the firm replied in its 39-page intervention. Assistant general counsel Philippe Gauvin questioned CRTC letters which wondered whether the Big Three had contravened the original ruling. Such characterizations are not borne out by the content of the letters. The handling fee is simply to recover costs, Bell alleges, and does not fall under the prohibition of junk fees. The telecom giant notes the commission did not impose AMPs on Bragg Communications Inc., doing business as Eastlink, when it wrongly declared that Frontier Networks Inc. could not sell Eastlink access to other carriers. That precedent should apply in this situation, Bell maintains. Telus Corp. picked up the mantle of bias on the part of the CRTC. “he commission has not set out its theory on how Telus’ practices are in conflict with the law, despite Telus having already filed a detailed explanation of the law, at commission staff’s request,” its 50-page application asserts. “Rather, the commission has presumed that Telus’ practices (and the other companies’ vastly different practices) have violated the law, without explaining why or how, and has shifted the legal burden to the companies to prove their innocence as well as demonstrate why punitive penalties should not be imposed.” “The current process is akin to a student being summoned to the principal’s office, only to be told: ‘We think you did something wrong, but we won’t tell you why. Now why don’t you convince us that you didn’t do it?’,” vice-president Stephen Schmidt wrote. “The difference here is that significant monetary penalties, reputations and individual liability are all at stake.” Telus offers that SIM cards are a product and charging for them is not a prohibited fee. Retailers like Walmart and Best Buy also assess a fee for the cards, the firm noted. The company added that average revenue per user (ARPU) has fallen for all three major carriers over the past four quarters. Rogers went from a high of $56.70 in Q3 of 2025 to $54.25 in Q2 of 2026. For the same period, Bell ARPU declined from $57.45 to $56.30. Telus itself saw ARPU fall from $57.10 to $56.36. ppark@thewirereport.ca

Small firms call for crackdown on junk fees by Big Three

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By Paul Park
|September 7, 2026

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