GATINEAU – On December 1st 2017, the CRTC’s new and improved Wireless Code came into effect, removing all restrictions on the unlocking of cellular phones, notably no more 90 days waiting period to do so and no more charging a fee to perform that service.
On December 6th 2017, the Public Interest Advocacy Center (PIAC) requested from the CRTC a clarification on the Unlocking Policy of the new code. There had been confusion as to whether the cell phone companies had the obligation to unlock the phones of people who were not their customers.
If my contract with the phone company has ended, can I request the phone be unlocked? PIAC advocated they should but CRTC’s staff advice on the matter was that they had no obligation to do so since the CRTC regulated the service and not the device.
As per the rules of procedure of the CRTC, intervenors had until February 2, 2018, to comment on the PIAC request. 13 people or organizations participated and mostly agreed with the PIAC view.
Four months later, the Commission wrote to all Wireless Service Providers (WSPs) that it considered additional information was required, including from WSPs who had not yet participated in the proceeding. (Bell and Telus among them.) One of the questions asked was “Provide the number of unlocking requests received, per month, since December 2017, where those numbers are available. Indicate in your response what proportion of such requests were denied, as well as the reasons for the denials. “What trends, if any, do you see in the requests for devices unlocks since the initial month of the unlocking rules coming into force?”
In its response, Bell stated 257,840 devices had been unlocked and they did not seem to disagree with the PIAC point. The trend was such that they had decided to stock unlocked devices. But, consequently, they saw “multiple instances of armed robberies at our stores targeting unlocked, new devices. To protect the safety of our employees, we intend to revert to stocking select devices locked and unlock them only upon activation.”
We asked a Bell spokesperson if the company could share more information on the number and location of armed robberies targeting unlocked, new devices or an estimate the number of stolen cell phones, but the company declined to provide that information at this time.
Rogers did not make public the number of unlocking sets but noted that they had noted a 100% increase of couriered missing devices whereas a customer requests delivery of a new unlocked phone and is never received.
Their practice seems to also fit in line with the PIAC’s request.
Participants will be allowed to comment on the information filed until 9 August and replies can be filed no later than 20 August.
