Bell signage is seen at BCE Inc. headquarters in Montreal.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
BCE Inc.’s BCE-T Bell Canada and Telus Corp. T-T are not backing down from warnings by the telecom regulator that their new cell-phone-related fees are potentially prohibited under a recent policy which bans certain activation, modification, and cancellation charges.
In letters to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission filed Wednesday, representatives from Bell and Telus said they will continue to charge their new $40 and $15 fees, respectively.
Rogers Communications Inc. is also defending a $40 setup charge, though it has yet to file its formal response to the CRTC.
The CRTC had asked all three companies to provide provide further rationale for these fees, with Bell and Telus’s responses due Wednesday and Rogers’ due Thursday.
CRTC tells Bell, Telus to drop fees by Wednesday or risk compliance action
The new policy, which came into effect last Friday following changes to the Telecommunications Act, bans telecom companies from charging fees that would discourage customers from switching between providers, with the goal of encouraging competition.
All three companies are arguing their new fees fall under an exemption to the policy which allows carriers to charge for optional services that customers agree to purchase, such as add-on equipment not required to deliver the service.
The CRTC has already told the three telecoms that the new fees “do not appear” to fall under the exemption. In letters to the three companies earlier this week, the CRTC asked for supporting rationale explaining why their fees should be allowed, and repeated that it would “consider all available compliance options” to ensure the policy was being applied as intended.
In his Wednesday response to the CRTC, Bell’s assistant general counsel Philippe Gauvin defended the telecom’s new one-time $40 device-handling fee for customers buying mobile devices, which the company has said is intended to cover fulfillment costs.
The fee “is distinct from the activation or modification of a wireless service plan, recovers legitimate device fulfillment costs, and does not discourage customers from switching or modifying plans,” Mr. Gauvin said.
Telus to charge $15 activation fee for new SIM cards
And Telus chief regulatory legal counsel Stephen Schmidt, in his response, backed the company’s new $15 fee for new physical SIM cards and e-SIM card activations, saying its charge is not a fee at all but instead, the cost of a product.
“The purpose of the amendments to the Act is to prohibit junk fees, not to prohibit carriers from charging for goods and services. The Commission’s definition ought to be read in this context,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rogers spokesperson Kylie Laughren said in an email that the company’s $40 device setup charge is applied to optional purchases of a devices including smartphones, tablets and watches, “in line with CRTC rules.”
The company added that two other fees that the CRTC identified in its letter sent to the company on Tuesday – a $25 shipping charge, and an unspecified SIM fee – are not new, and not related to activation.