Lower cell phone bills are on the agenda for some parties this election. Others? Not so much.

Last night, OpenMedia filed detailed and significant comments in support of a crucial challenge that will determine whether Canadians get access to new, independent wireless providers like Ting. If the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) listens to Canadians, bad parts of a recent ruling will be overturned and a new level playing field will allow a wide range of new mobile providers to set up shop and sell services to Canadians. Back in May, the CRTC took a significant step towards ensuring Canadians have access to more affordable options in our mobile phone and Internet market.  

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 By bundling them into outdated Cable-TV-style packages for mobile phone users.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.