OTTAWA – A new web site called ‘Don’t Lock My Freedom’ is rallying Canadians to rebel against cell phones which are “locked” to the wireless providers from which they were purchased. But it also may serve to shake up the way that wireless companies in Canada do business.
The newly-launched site supports a private member’s bill known as the Cellphone Freedom Act introduced last week by NDP MP Bruce Hyer. If passed (private member’s bills are rarely passed, however), the legislation would require telecom companies to ‘unlock’ fully purchased phones free of charge at a customer’s request, and unlock subsidized phones when a customer’s contract ends.
Currently, most wireless handsets in Canada are ‘locked’, or restricted, to the wireless provider that sells them.
But could this legislation, especially when coupled with Apple’s offer to sell a “commitment-free” (i.e. unlocked) version of its new iPhone 4 next month, spark a revolution in the wireless market? What are the unintended consequences of such a change?
Will Canada’s wireless incumbents soon have to compete for the business of month-to-month customers, who would be free to switch networks for cheaper voice and data plans? And would it encourage Canadians who travel frequently to open accounts with foreign carriers rather than pay roaming fees to their Canadian provider?
Talk about a churn booster.
According to a recent column by University of Ottawa professor and tech law specialist Michael Geist, “true mobility” is not only coming, it’s overdue.
“The issue of locked cell phones has long been a source of consumer fear and frustration since some wondered whether unlocking phones that were rendered unusable when switching wireless providers was legal”, Geist wrote earlier this week in backing the Hyer bill.
“In certain respects, this was an odd question to even have to ask. No one would ever question whether consumers have the right to tinker with their car or to use the same television if they switch providers from cable to satellite, yet the wireless industry somehow convinced the public that unlocking their phones – consumers’ own property – was wrong.”
But should this come to pass, it could also have negative ramifications as well. It could discourage wireless carriers from subsidizing new smart phones, pushing them out of the reach of lower-income consumers, for example.
Plus, not all aspects of wireless contracts are necessarily bad things. Most people currently expect free tech support when something goes wrong with their phone. With an unlocked phone, Canadian consumers might face the equivalent of buying the undercoating and extended warranty, or pay by the minute, if they want tech support when something goes wrong with their handset that isn’t tied to any carrier.
