CRTC looking into wireless roaming agreements

The CRTC is ordering Canada’s mobile providers to answer questions about the roaming agreements they enter into with other wireless carriers after hearing “concerns” from consumers and new entrant players about roaming rates. In a letter sent to mobile providers Friday, Chris Seidl, the CRTC’s executive director of telecommunications, ordered the carriers to provide copies of their roaming agreements with other Canadian carriers and with “the top four United Sates based carriers with whom your customers incur the most roaming traffic.” He also asked the carriers to provide a detailed breakdown of the roaming-related revenues they earned between 2007 and 2012 for each of voice, data and text messaging services, the rates they charge their subscribers for using those services while roaming in Canada and the United States, and how those rates have changed since 2007. “The data requested will provide the Commission with information on wireless roaming in order to assess its impact on the competitiveness of the Canadian wireless industry and the choices available to Canadians,” the letter said. Under a 2008 Industry Canada directive, wireless carriers are required to enter commercial roaming agreements with each other to ensure customers can continue to receive cellular service when outside their own carrier’s network footprint. Former industry minister Christian Paradis said in March that the government will extend those requirements indefinitely, after they were originally limited to a five-year period. Seidl said in a brief telephone interview Friday that the commission has heard concerns over the past year from consumers and new entrant carriers about high roaming fees “and in particular with wholesale roaming rates between carriers.” He said the commission attempted to address the concerns, in part, through the wireless code it released in June, which imposes a $100 cap on monthly international roaming fees for each consumer unless they choose to opt out of that protection. The commission, he added, is currently gathering data as part of a “research project” to gain a better understanding of what’s included in carriers’ roaming agreements. “No decision has been made on taking further action at this point,” he said. “We’re looking at the issue and that’s why we’re trying to get more information to understand it better.” Seidl noted that the CRTC has the jurisdiction to regulate the retail roaming rates carriers charge their subscribers as well as the wholesale roaming rates they charge each other through their agreements. “We obviously are interested in making sure that we rely on market forces to the maximum extent possible and only intervene where we see a clear market value,” he said. If the commission does move forward on the file, he added, its next step would be to launch a notice of consultation “to see if there’s a concern here that needs to be addressed.” Rogers spokeswoman Jennifer Kett said in an emailed statement Friday that Rogers has received the commission's letter and is reviewing its request. "It's worth noting that we've recently introduced new international roaming rates, including our new $7.95/day data roaming rate to the U.S.," she said. According to CRTC data released last year, Canada's wireless carriers recorded $1.36 billion in roaming revenues in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available. —With reporting by Nicholas Kyonka at nkyonka@thewirereport.caand editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

CRTC looking into wireless roaming agreements

News | August 30, 2013

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CRTC looking into wireless roaming agreements

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