By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The head of the CRTC has confirmed Thursday that the regulator is examining the issue of high international roaming rates charged by the country’s wireless carriers, following a letter this week from the innovation minister asking it to look into the matter.
“We are taking action and have already started comparing the international roaming rates available to us with those available in other countries,” said CRTC head Vicky Eatrides in the Thursday letter to Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.
“Our preliminary results confirm what many Canadians are feeling – that international roaming rates we pay are higher. We will be commissioning a study to examine this issue in greater detail,” the letter added.
This week, Champagne sent a letter to Eatrides asking her to look into the increasing prices for international roaming recently charged by some wireless carriers.
This month, Bell and Telus raised their U.S. and international roaming rates. The former increased the daily cost to both destinations by $1 to $13 and $16, respectively; the latter increased its rate by $2 and $1, respectively, to $14 and $16. Flanker brands of both will see a similar increase.
“Increases to ancillary fees like international roaming fees can be a mechanism where a service provider seeks to raise the consumer price without affecting the main sticker price that is most visible to consumers in making their purchasing decision,” Champagne’s letter said.
Champagne said these types of fees, “in many cases,” are “much less visible and are unpredictable or challenging for consumers to understand.”
“Given the important role that the CRTC plays in empowering consumers to make informed decisions when they purchase telecommunications services, and in promoting affordability, I wanted to bring this issue to your attention and underscore its importance,” the letter added.
Eatrides said in her letter that the regulator takes “seriously attempts to increase Canadians’ bills through ancillary fees” and will use “all available tools to address this type of behaviour.”
The last wireless framework review of the CRTC opened up mandatory access to the incumbents’ wireless networks to certain regional carriers.
The CRTC launched a proceeding this month on its wholesale internet framework, which is intended to bring down broadband prices, and on network resiliency last month.
