Tag: CRTC

CRTC Investigating ‘Possible Misleading’ Telco Sales Practices After First Rejecting The Idea | CBC News

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The CRTC has launched a public inquiry into “possible misleading or aggressive” sales practices used by telecom companies, a move the regulator flatly refused to make just six months ago. “It was definitely discouraging when the CRTC rejected it the first time around,” said Laura Tribe, executive director of consumer advocacy group Open Media. “It is also encouraging to see that they’re taking this opportunity to get it right.” Monday’s announcement included an invitation for Canadians to go online to share their personal experiences involving questionable telco sales tactics. The CRTC also plans to conduct…

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Ottawa Orders CRTC To Investigate Reports Of ‘Aggressive’ Telecom Sales Practices | CBC News

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​The federal government is ordering an investigation following allegations that Canada’s largest telecommunications companies are using “misleading” and “aggressive” tactics to sell products and services. Innovation, Science and Economic Minister Navdeep Bains has ordered the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to investigate and report on the sales practices used by Canada’s largest telecommunication companies. The minister also called for a public inquiry to allow Canadians to voice their concerns and said the resulting inquiry report will have to propose potential solutions. The call for inquiry follows months of CBC stories on the issue. Read full story here: Ottawa Orders CRTC To Investigate Reports…

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Big Telco’s Lower-Cost, Data-Only Plans Are ‘Embarrassing,’ Critics Say | CBC News

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Bell, Rogers and Telus’ proposed lower-cost, data-only wireless deals are no deal at all, say critics. The offerings include half a gigabyte (GB) of data for $30 a month. “It’s embarrassing and quite frankly it’s rude to think that these are functional plans,” said Laura Tribe, executive director of Open Media, a consumer watchdog group. In March, the CRTC announced that it would ensure Canadians have access to cheaper, data-only wireless deals. The plans are meant to fill a void while the telecom regulator reviews a recent decision that effectively hinders smaller, WiFi-based, national discount wireless carriers from operating in Canada. The…

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Big Telcos Not Required To Sell Wholesale Network Access To Tower-less Rivals, CRTC Says – Business – CBC News

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The CRTC has once again refused to mandate the big telcos sell wholesale access to their wireless networks to fledgling rivals without towers of their own, a decision critics call a blow for competition and for Canadians fed up with big cellphone bills. At the request of Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains, the regulator spent months reviewing its ruling from last March that threatened to put Sugar Mobile out of business. On Thursday, the CRTC reaffirmed its decision that the discount Wi-Fi-based provider has no right to resell access to Rogers’s network to keep its…

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CRTC Rejects Call For Public Inquiry Into Aggressive Telecom Sales Practices – Business – CBC News

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A consumer group is protesting the CRTC’s refusal to hold a public inquiry into numerous claims of aggressive and misleading sales practices by some of Canada’s major telecoms. The telecom regulator says there’s no need for an inquiry. But the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), a non-profit agency based in Ottawa, says the decision hurts consumers. “CRTC throws consumers to telco sales dogs,” PIAC’s executive director, John Lawford, said in a statement. “The CRTC refusal to inquire into the shocking sales practices of Canada’s major telecommunications and broadcasting companies says to consumers, ‘You’re…

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Telecoms, CBC And Others Urge CRTC To Establish Agency To Help Locate Piracy Websites – Business – CBC News

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Prominent members of Canada’s entertainment industry are calling for a new federal agency to locate and shut down websites that are portals for illegally obtained video and audio content. Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Inc., Quebecor Inc., Cineplex Inc., Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and several other organizations have banded together to create FairPlay Canada. They argue that Canadian jobs are at risk because consumers can get access to TV shows, movies and music from websites that don’t pay for the content that they stream to consumers. They want the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications…

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Rogers Employees Say Managers Turn A Blind Eye So Call Centre Workers Can Lie And Cheat Customers – Business – CBC News

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Call centre employees working for Rogers Communications say the telecom company is pressuring them to try to make a sale on every call — even to elderly people who don’t understand or need certain products or services. In emails and interviews with Go Public, dozens of Rogers workers say they’re under “extreme pressure” to hit sales targets or risk termination. Their claims come on the heels of Bell Canada workers revealing similar pressures to upsell customers, often at the expense of ethics. “You’re supposed to look at a customer’s account and…

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Bell Says CRTC Promise Of Free Phone Unlocking Doesn’t Apply To Everyone – Business – CBC News

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Canadians were supposed to be freed from cellphone unlocking fees come Dec. 1, but some with a Bell-locked phone have found they’ve had to fight for their freedom. That’s because the telecom giant will only unlock phones free of charge for current and former customers. Its policy excludes anyone who never signed up with Bell but acquired a second-hand phone that happens to be locked to its network. Bell also turned down Laura Train-Fraser even though she says she was once a customer. Because the telecom couldn’t confirm this, it refused to…

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CRTC Weighs Impact On Revised Wireless Code Following Rogers Request For Delay – Business – CBC News

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A revised wireless code, which originally went into effect in 2013, would tie data caps for shared plans to single accounts, no matter how many devices are listed. Rogers is seeking a delay of the implementation of the revised code. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press) It’s all but certain that the Canadian telecom industry’s revised wireless code of conduct won’t be fully implemented before Christmas, including a change in the way customers are billed when data usage goes over their contract’s limit. While the CRTC hasn’t ruled yet on a delay requested…

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CRTC Bans Cellphone Unlocking Fees, Orders All New Devices Be Unlocked – Business – CBC News

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The era of having to pay cellular providers to unlock your cellphone will end this year. As of Dec. 1, cellphone customers can ask their provider to unlock their phones free of charge, the CRTC announced Thursday. At the same time, it said, all newly purchased mobile devices must be provided to customers unlocked. “It’s a big step forward,” said Rose Behar, senior reporter for the tech site MobileSyrup in Toronto. Telecoms often order locked phones from manufacturers that are programmed to work only with their service. Then they charge a fee — typically $50 —…

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