Jun 032013
 
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New Wireless Code gives consumers more control over costs.

from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) today welcomed the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) new Wireless Code of Conduct, saying the rules would benefit all wireless consumers coast to coast.

The Wireless Code has rules to help wireless customers where it counts – the bottom line,” said John Lawford, Executive Director and General Counsel at PIAC. “It also makes it easier to switch companies because those costs are limited and are clear,” he added.

The Code caps data overage fees at $50 a month and international data roaming fees at $100 a month, unless the consumer explicitly wishes to use more.

PIAC appeared before the CRTC, in association with the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC) and the Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of British Columbia (COSCO) to argue that Canada’s wireless industry needed basic consumer protection rules.

The Wireless Code of Conduct will allow consumers to assert their rights with their wireless carrier and will be enforced by the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) a free service founded to resolve consumer complaints with Canadian wireless companies.

Lawford noted that the Wireless Code provides more control for consumers over the data charges on their wireless bills, since the Code caps data overage fees at $50 a month and international data roaming fees at $100 a month, unless the consumer explicitly wishes to use more. “Canadians may finally now be freed of the worst of cellphone bill shock,” noted Lawford, “We hope that consumers will now be able to enjoy their wireless service fully and without fear.”

Read the CRTC’s Wireless Code of Conduct

About Public Interest Advocacy Centre


PIAC is a non-profit organization that provides legal and research services on behalf of consumer interests, and, in particular, vulnerable consumer interests, concerning the provision of important public services.

© Copyright 2013 Public Interest Advocacy Centre, All rights Reserved. Written For: StraightGoods.ca
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