Globe and Mail: Online campaign takes on ‘telecom price-gouging’

Last week, the CRTC put forth a call for public comments to help shape the future of Canada's wireless market. This week, we're launching a new campaign to ensure that Canadian voices are heard loud and clear. With your support in speaking out, we're already gaining traction in media outlets nationwide. Make your voice heard and share your story to the CRTC at CellPhoneHorrorStory.ca. Article by Rita Trichur for The Globe and Mail An online activist group that once sparked a public outcry over the controversial issue of usage-based billing for Internet access is now taking aim at cellphone contracts.

OpenMedia.ca is set to launch a new online campaign Wednesday to channel consumer anger over convoluted contracts for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. The group’s launch of CellPhoneHorrorStory.ca comes as the federal telecommunications regulator seeks the public’s input on creating a national code to strengthen consumer protections for wireless services.

Although OpenMedia.ca has expressed its support for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s public consultation, it worries that ordinary Canadians could find the process too daunting. The grassroots group is also concerned that the big three wireless incumbents, which have spent months urging the CRTC to create such a code, will use their collective influence to “weaken” its provisions.

“The best way to make effective rules to protect citizens against telecom price-gouging is to ground them in the lived realities of Canadians,” executive director Steve Anderson said in a press release. “Too many Canadians have been overcharged, put on hold for an unconscionable amount of time, or otherwise treated unfairly by cellphone companies.” Read more »

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