What we’ve learned one week into testimony about the government’s use of cell phone tracking during COVID-19.

All eyes turn to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains to address affordability with wholesale mobile access and mandate set-rates for MVNOs

The need for affordable cellphone plans in Canada is essential to bridge the digital divide and provide more Canadians with the array of socio-economic benefits the Internet affords.

1 in 3 low-income Canadians can’t afford a cellphone. That means no emergency calls when away from a landline, no texting with loved ones, no access to maps, email, and the online tools and services that we all depend on every day.

Last week, one of Canada’s Big Telecom giants announced a controversial new scheme that will give them more power to control how you use the Internet on your mobile devices – and, if we don’t speak up, the Big Three will soon follow suit. Videotron wants the power to hand-choose which mobile streaming apps and services are more expensive than others. How are they doing this? By bundling them into outdated Cable-TV-style packages for mobile phone users. As a result, they’re giving unfair advantage to the services they decide are “worthy” of our attention and discriminating against others – an anti-user practice that positions them as gatekeepers of our mobile networks, and violates Canada’s open Internet (AKA: Net Neutrality) rules.

Cheaper plans being sold on Kijiji? This has got to stop!  Article by Peter Nowak for Alphabeatic You know wireless pricing in Canada is messed up when there’s a black market emerging to provide people with better deals.

The new Rogers/Mobilicity deal will mean less choice and therefore higher prices. Article by Christine Dobby for The Globe and Mail While Mobilicity has finally found a buyer – selling to Rogers Communications Inc. for $465-million after more than two years in legal and financial limbo – Wind Mobile Corp. will also benefit from the deal through a significant increase in its spectrum holdings.

 It's more important than ever that we speak out before their deadline for comments. To get your voice put into the hearing, head over to UnblockCanada.ca and sign on to our open letter calling for world-class Internet services across the country. Article by Jane Sponagle for CBC At Iqaluit's Four Corners intersection downtown, it takes Jessica Bos more than 10 minutes to send a text message with a photo.

Good news Canada! June 3, 2015 is Cell Phone Freedom Day. Starting next Wednesday, three year contracts which have run for 24 months or more can be cancelled without any penalties. For example, if you entered into a 3-year cell phone contract on June 3, 2013, you now have the option of ending that contract on June 3, 2015, without penalty.