Welcome to another edition of MobileSyrup’s telecom news roundup.
Business
The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services’ (CCTS) received 15,000 complaints in 2021. The CRTC-mandated organization summarized the details in its 2021 Compliance and Monitoring report. While the report lacks information about which companies received the most complaints, it does point to 4pairless communications twice when discussing breaches of its Procedural Code.
Six weeks after Rogers’ July 8th outage, the company has revealed more details surrounding the nationwide disturbance. More than 13 million wireline and wireless customers were impacted. When it came to restoring services, Rogers focused on wireless services first, followed by wireline services and critical care services. The disclosure results from several requests from various organizations demanding Rogers reveal more detail on the outage.
The CRTC is continuing its investigation into Rogers’ nationwide outage. The regulatory body has sent the company a list of questions it needs “to assess the situation.” The commission wants details on the company’s plan to separate its wireless and wireline networks, the direct economic losses the outage brought, and its impact on 911 services.
More on the CRTC, the commission has ruled it will decide on Telus’ application to charge credit card fees in 45 days. The CRTC commonly approves interim decisions 15 days after receiving applications. However, the commission says it won’t take that step in this case, given the number of interventions against Telus’ request. That figure sits in the thousands. More background on the topic is available here.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) TekSavvy has once again asked the Competition Bureau to address predatory internet pricing. In a letter, the ISP says large companies are offering retail internet prices under their flanker brands that cost less than the “inflated” prices they charge competitors. TekSavvy says the anti-competitive behaviour is going unchecked, leading ISPs to go out of business.
Infrastructure
Telus is planning on spending billions of dollars in British Columbia through 2026. Under the commitment, the Vancouver-based telecom giant will invest $33 million in Surrey this year. $13 million will also go towards New Westminster, $4 million to Richmond, and $105 million to Vancouver. The company has promised similar investments for several municipalities in Alberta.
Deals
The new school year is just around the corner, and several brands are offering decent promotions for students.
Public Mobile is offering students a 20GB data plan for $55/mo.
Rogers has offered some former customers a $45/25GB win-back plan.
Virgin Plus has a $45/20GB plan available for some customers, although getting it requires talking to an agent through chat.
