Following the CRTC ruling in May that will force the Big Three carriers — Rogers, Bell and Telus — to charge less for domestic roaming, newer wireless carriers have issued a complaint to the governing body that the rates now include longer-term agreements, which is subject to negotiation.
At the time of the decision, the CRTC stated, “there is an insufficient level of competition among the national wireless companies – Bell, Rogers and Telus,” and to foster competition it declared it would enforce interim rates and caps to what the carriers could charge for text, data and voice when competing wireless customers’ would travel outside their coverage zone.
According to the Globe and Mail, Wind Mobile, Videotron and Eastlink all believe the terms are “one-sided” and have filed a complaint with the CRTC. “Bell and Telus have essentially cut and pasted onerous, prenegotiation versions of their wholesale roaming agreements into their interim tariff pages, along with a confidential rate table. Rogers did not go quite as far,” but is “inconsistent with negotiated outcomes with the applicants,” says the complaint.
Matthew MacLellan, president of Eastlink Wireless, stated, “we filed the application because we were concerned that the incumbents are attempting to insert terms and conditions in their tariffs that would negate the key benefits to consumers in the commission’s wholesale roaming decision.”
The Big Three carriers disputed the claim and filed a reply with the CRTC. Telus said that Wind, Videotron and Eastlink “make their assertions but do not point to a single instance of which terms and conditions with which they take issue.”
Wind, Videotron and Eastlink plan to file a reply August 6th.
Related: CRTC to force Rogers, Telus and Bell to charge less for domestic roaming
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