You were the top story

Decision-makers are feeling the heat from our campaign for cell phone choice. Our crowdsourced report, based on your citizen stories, went viral, making it the top story in almost every major media outlet in the country.1 The Industry Minister was forced to publicly state that customers need more choice2 and Canada’s chief cell phone regulator has even admitted “The market’s not working”.3 Big Telecom is not backing off – their lobbyists are going after journalists on Twitter trying to get them to change the story.4 At this crucial moment, please consider taking the next step with us by making a small pledge to support our work bringing Canadians the facts.

Decision-makers are feeling the heat from our campaign for cell phone choice. Our crowdsourced report, based on your citizen stories, went viral, making it the top story in almost every major media outlet in the country.¹ The Industry Minister was forced to publicly state that customers need more choice² and Canada’s chief cell phone regulator has even admitted “The market’s not working”.³

Big Telecom is not backing off – their lobbyists are going after journalists on Twitter trying to get them to change the story.⁴At this crucial moment, please consider taking the next step with us by making a small pledge to support our work bringing Canadians the facts.

Stories from people like you have made it very clear that Canadians have suffered at the hands of Big Telecom for long enough. Now, Canadians are coming together to fight, pushing back against Big Telecom’s PR spin harder and more effectively everyday.

We have to remain vigilant with new tools and strategies. You can keep us going now by pledging to contribute even $5 – a fraction of your average cell phone bill – to fight back against Big Telecom.

In addition to the 2,859 stories we gathered from supporters and submitted to the CRTC, we’ve also empowered over 30,000 Canadians to pressure the Industry Minister as part of our DemandChoice campaign. If you can help, here’s our plan:

1. Launch a letter-to-the-editor tool to allow all Canadians to easily speak out against Big Telecom price-gouging in their local newspapers.
2. Collaborate with online innovators & entrepreneurs to send a letter to the Industry Minister about the damage being done to business in Canada by high mobile costs.
3. Translate all our campaign content and launch it to our 40,000 Francophone Canadian supporters, in Industry Minister Paradis’ backyard.

Your pledge is crucial to making this plan a reality. Please contribute what you can today so we can keep working for you.

You’ve been such an essential part of our success so far – let’s keep going together.

Shea & Lindsey, on behalf of the OpenMedia.ca team.

P.S. As Globe and Mail journalist Iain Marlow said “Would be fun to see what the other side could do with the combined PR/research budgets of Telus, Bell [and] Rogers.” OpenMedia.ca has a track record of winning⁵ with a fraction of Big Telecom’s budget – but we rely on your support for our innovative, citizen-driven campaigns. Small donations from all across Canada are what keep us running.

Foonotes

[1] “Your Cell Phone Horror Stories in the News”. Source: OpenMedia.ca Website.

[2] New measures to increase competition in the wireless sector. Source: Industry Canada.

[3] Sharp differences surface in CRTC hearings on wireless code. Source: Montreal Gazette.

[4] Telus Spokesperson Shawn Hall versus Globe and Mail reporter Iain Marlow. Source: Twitter.

[5] Our Accomplishments. Source: OpenMedia Website.