GATINEAU – Canadian consumers need their wireless companies to be much more transparent when it comes to contract terms and other matters, so the industry should have national standards when it comes to the provision of wireless services, Telus told the CRTC on Wednesday in calling for a public hearing on transparency in wireless.
The call for that new process came in a letter to the Commission from the company’s senior vice-president of government and regulatory affairs, Michael Hennessy, where he denied an accusation leveled by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre that Telus routinely charges wireless customers for 30 additional days of service after a customer cancels his or her wireless service with the company. However, despite insisting PIAC has misinterpreted Telus policy on that matter, the big wireline and wireless telco believes a public proceeding should be called to “determine what national standards apply with respect to a number of transparency-oriented issues,” reads the Telus letter.
Telus says it wants to see standards for contract terms, on unilateral amendments of those contracts, on contract expiry notifications, on early contract cancellation fees, unlocking handsets, paper invoices, notifying customers when they are approaching data use caps, and on advertising the rates and those data and voice limits, among other things (see below).
Back in December, PIAC complained to the Commission that it appeared Telus always imposed 30 days of additional billing when a client cancels an account. This is simply not so, said Hennessy in his letter. “Departing Telus clients typically pay nothing following the deactivation of their service, or, if they choose to port their number, will forego something less than 30 days of pre-paid charges (and potentially as few as two or three days) depending on when in their bill cycle Telus receives notice of cancellation,” he wrote.
However, while the company denies PIAC’s allegations, it believes now is the time for a public proceeding to come up with national standards on how wireless companies deal with their customers. “Telus considers that consumers across Canada should benefit from the same baseline standards regarding wireless services, and that the Commission is best positioned to determine those standards,” says the submission.
“Telus and other wireless service providers (WSPs) that operate nationally face the prospect of multiple, conflicting standards for a range of marketing, contracting, and billing matters depending on the province where they operate. This causes Telus significant concern because complying with a patchwork of standards and requirements across the country would create inefficiencies and additional costs that would ultimately have to be borne by our clients.
“A CRTC proceeding would provide consumers and interested governments the opportunity to participate in the standards-setting process as they historically have in respect to the development of Terms of Service for various communications services.”
(Ed note: Wireless contracts confuse even the most veteran industry participants, let alone the average Canadian, and we bet consumer groups and many others will seize upon Telus’ idea here for a public process and resulting standards with gusto.)
The submission also sets out what Telus believes the Commission should study and standardize (taken verbatim from its submission):
Requirements for contract terms and conditions to be evidenced in writing
• Standards setting out the terms and conditions in a wireless services contract that must be evidenced in writing
• Requirements regarding contractual documentation that must be provided to the customer at the time the contract is agreed upon
• Rules regarding which contractual documentation must be retained by the WSP
Constraints on unilateral amendment of contracts
• Rules that identify when a WSP can and cannot change terms or conditions in a wireless services contract
Notification of expiry of contracts and constraints on automatic renewal
• Standards regarding the manner and timing in which a WSP must deliver notification to the customer of the expiry of a wireless services contract and the terms that apply if the contract is automatically extended
Cancellation of contracts
• Rules that set out when a contract can be cancelled, the manner in which such cancellation is delivered, and the obligations that stem from such a cancellation
Cancellation fees and calculation of early termination fees when a customer cancels a wireless services contract
• Rules that identify the fees that are applicable when a customer cancels a wireless services contract and how such fees are calculated
• Cancellation fees might include amounts attributable to monthly services fees paid in advance and repayment of any wireless device subsidies that were provided as inducements to enter into wireless services contract
Treatment of security deposits that were paid by a customer as a condition of a wireless services contract
• Rules that require notification to a customer when a WSP uses a security deposit to satisfy an amount that has not been paid and that state the timing of the return of a security deposit to a customer after a wireless services contract has expired or been cancelled
Rules regarding unlocking of wireless devices
• Terms and conditions upon which a WSP will remove restrictions on the ability of a wireless device to function on another WSP’s network
Expiry of prepaid cards
• Rules that set out whether prepaid wireless cards are subject to expiry
Customer’s obligation to pay monthly wireless service charges when the wireless device is under repair
• Rules that identify when a customer is obligated to pay monthly wireless service charges if the wireless device is being repaired
Advertising of monthly wireless services rates and data consumption limits
• Requirements regarding how wireless monthly services rates and data consumption limits are displayed in advertising
Requirement to provide paper invoice on demand
• Rules setting out whether WSPs are obligated to provide paper bills to customers who request them
Notifications to clients approaching usage allowance limits or entering areas where different rates apply
• Standards as to the manner in which WSPs are to notify their customers when they are reaching their monthly service allotments for voice minutes and data consumption or when they enter a location where they will be subject to rates that differ from the rates set in their base service area
Disclosure of manufacturer’s warranty on device
• Requirements to notify a customer of the manufacturer’s warranty on a wireless device
Ed note: Submitted to the Commission late Wednesday, the Regulator has not yet responded. We'll ask what people think, asap.
