The Canadian Radio and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC) released its three-year plan today, detailing its new and ongoing initiatives for regulating the Canadian telecommunications industry.
The plan features a continued focus on listening and responding to the concerns of Canadian consumers, particularly as it concerns wireless services.
“The CRTC wants to put Canadians at the centre of their communication system. And that means making their voices heard and their opinions known,” said CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais in a quote released with the plan.
A recent report by Marketplace cast doubt on whether the Wireless Code of Conduct (WCOC) is working to protect consumers. The WCOC was created by the CRTC in 2013 to better inform consumers of the rights and obligations contained in their contracts, and has since mandated many industry-wide changes, including requiring companies to inform users when they are being billed over $50 in out of bundle data.
As the Marketplace report brought to light, however, the text message warnings companies send are easily dismissed and were most often being approved by a child or non-account holder.
The plan does not address this issue specifically, but notes that within the year it will publish a new edition of its Wireless Code public opinion survey results and initiate a public consultation to review the code’s effectiveness. In 2017, it plans to issue a decision regarding its current regulatory policy framework.
The CRTC also introduced new initiatives in the plan. This year will see the organization monitor the implementation of the Wireless Public Alerting System pilot project. Wireless emergency alerting is a program already instituted in the U.S. that sends location-based SMS notices regarding emergencies of importance to the general public immediately to your phone.
Digital privacy is another new concern raised by the public. The CRTC will launch research in to the subject and depending on the results, it may follow up with a public consultation.
This year the organization will also issue a decision regarding its competitor quality of service regime, which ensures new entrants to the wireless industry receive a high quality of service from competitors.
Related reading: CRTC seeking feedback from Canadians about next-generation 9-1-1 services
[source]CRTC[/source]
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