Asides

Rogers implements new “Government Regulatory Recovery Fee”… Bell is “not exposed”

Effective today Rogers implemented their new “Government Regulatory Recovery Fee” that will see the dreaded monthly System Access Fee disappear.

As we notes earlier, the “The Government Regulatory Recovery Fee ranges from between $2.52 and $3.49 per line per month, depending on whether provincial 911 fees are applicable.” Also Rogers is throwing in some added value features for free: Call Forwarding ($3 value), WhoCalled ($3 value) and Call Manager ($5 value).

With this news, we’ve received an internal document from Bell that shows their position. It reads “Recently Rogers announced that as of October 5, 2009, they will be restructuring their current System Access Fee (SAF) and 911 fee(s) in favour of an alternative approach.

What is happening:

• Rogers will no longer be charging the System Access Fee of $6.95, 911 Fee of $0.50 and Provincial 911 Fees (in selected markets) – a combined $7.45 to $7.98 per month.
• To offset the revenue loss associated with the above, Rogers is increasing the price of its rate plans by $5 per month and levying a new Government Regulatory Recovery Fee (ranging from $2.58 to $3.46 per month – depending on region) for a new total of $7.58 to $8.46 per month.
• Rogers has in fact increased their net prices to clients.
• New clients will be automatically enrolled in the new pricing; existing clients may move to the new pricing model only by migrating to the new in-market rate plans.

Bell is not exposed, for the following reasons: Our rate plans will be $5 cheaper for the same content & On a net price basis, with SAF/911 included, our plans are very comparable.

Seems like the carriers are continuing to battle hard against each other. Competition is going to get even more cut throat over the next couple months when WIND Mobile, DAVE Wireless and Public Mobile come into play. With Rogers getting rid of the SAF and bringing in a new fee, I am sure the others will follow at some point and that all the SAF will be history… even if it’s mandated by our government.

Time are finally changing for us Canadians! Let’s just see some lower rates!