GATINEAU – The CRTC heard on Wednesday that it could improve consumers’ wireless service buying experience and result in a more competitive environment if it adopted some minor changes to the Critical Information Summary (CIS).
Tamara Shepherd, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, and Catherine Middleton, professor and Canada Research Chair at Ryerson University, suggested that as a first step the CIS be standardized, simplified and provided to consumers much earlier in the contracting process.
Specifically, Middleton pointed to the confusion around plans as they’re presented on the wireless carriers’ websites. She noted terms such as premium, light, heavy, flex, share, tab, easy pay – and sometimes all under a single brand – as standard practice. A simplified and standardized CIS would help consumers get past “the marketing rhetoric.”
The operators argued earlier in the hearing that their websites serve as the primary shopping tool for services, not the CIS.
Positioning the CIS as a reference tool, not a comparison mechanism, is what the two researchers believe is the right approach. Under questioning, Middleton argued that consumers have difficulty making sense of the complex information presented to them.
“What we’re calling for is some mechanism that would encourage the providers to offer much simper information about what it is they’re offering consumers. We think that that is something they should embrace. It seems crazy in a way that providers are not able to simply, clearly articulate their offerings,” she stated.
CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais wondered why the Commission needed to intervene when consumers make the ultimate decision in signing a contract.
Shepherd noted that today’s competitive environment hasn’t made it easy for consumers to understand and make the choices that are appropriate for them. The code could be used to fill in the gaps. “What we’re really calling for is to think of the code as not solely as an issue about consumer responsibility, which it is in part, but to also think about how it can push the providers to be offering more fair options to consumers which in the end would benefit the Canadian market place overall,” she said.
Unlocking fees and voice roaming
As was previously reported by Cartt.ca, Freedom Mobile has called for the complete elimination of device unlocking fees. During its testimony, the company argued though it can’t go it alone on that issue and the Commission should mandate all carriers to offer unlocked devices at the point of sale – going so far as to call on the Commission to ban carriers from even ordering locked handsets.
Bob Boron, senior VP of regulatory at Freedom, highlighted what he described as a “perverse impact” on the company if it were to be the only provider to offer unlocked devices.
“The more dominant competitors would realize that all of our customers have unlocked phones and you could imagine targeted promotional plans to Freedom customers that wouldn’t necessarily apply the other larger competitors because they’d still have locked phones,” he said.
The large carriers have said they need to buy locked devices – and that the 90-day delay in unlocking them at customers’ request is to prevent fraud. Ed Antecol, VP of regulatory and carrier relations at Freedom, is skeptical of this argument.
“While you may discourage fraud you may actually… cause more problems for consumers who buy those phones,” he said, adding that fraudulently unlocked devices may not function properly. “So we actually see a lot more harm in keeping the codes around than what the harm you would prevent in terms of extra fraud by delaying the (unlocking) codes.”
The company suggested the Commission could require carriers in a revised Wireless Code that they unlock all devices and that in six months from the date of the decision that all new devices sold be unlocked. This delay would give the device makers time to adjust their inventory.
The issue of voice roaming overage charges has been raised a number of times throughout the hearing and until today, the wireless operators have suggested there isn’t a way around this. Freedom countered that by saying the mechanisms used for prepaid international calling could be applied to post-paid subscribers.
CAMEL signaling currently allows pre-paid international calls to be charged immediately. Antecol said the simple solution is to treat post-paid voice calling in the same manner.
“I don’t think any of that would be described as anything other than favouring the carrier.” Jean-Pierre Blais, CRTC
In its appearance, SaskTel argued that the code should allow for return of three year contracts. The company said the market has changed since it was first introduced and the benefits of the longer terms contracts “outweigh the reasons three year contracts were banned in the first place,” said Bill Beckman, senior director of regulatory affairs.
Under questioning Blais took the Crown corp to task over what he considered proposals that favoured the carriers and not customers. In addition to three-year contracts, the company wants to charge restocking fees, limit trial periods, and put more regulatory burden on the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS), he noted.
“I don’t think any of that would be described as anything other than favouring the carrier,” he said.
With respect to the CCTS, Glenn Vorrieter, manager of regulatory affairs at the regional carrier, said it’s about ensuring transparency for consumers.
“I think greater transparency not only benefits individual service providers, it will also benefit consumers who won’t know and understand how the CCTS is administering the code and what they might expect in terms of complaints they bring,” he stated.
SaskTel’s position on device unlocking was the subject of considerable discussion during its testimony. Blais described device unlocking fees a “good-bye tax” levied on customers switching to another provider.
“This is not a tax that we would be applying to the customer but more a fee that’s charged because there is a great deal of effort that goes into that for us as a corporation,” said Rhonda Carsten, director of wireless marketing at SaskTel.
The wireless code hearing wraps on Thursday with appearances from accessibility group and the CCTS.
