OpenMedia.ca Available for Comment: Penalizing Bell for Deceiving and Gouging Customers Addresses Symptom, not Disease

WHO:
Steve Anderson – Founder and Executive Director of OpenMedia.ca, the citizen engagement organization behind the 490,000-strong Stop The Meter campaign, and co-author of the report Casting An Open Net: A Leading-Edge Approach to Canada’s Digital Future.

WHAT:
The Competition Bureau slammed Bell Canada with its highest possible fine, $10 million, for engaging in false advertising over the last four years. This decision corroborates many of the findings in OpenMedia.ca’s recent report, Casting An Open Net -- specifically as it relates to Canadians being gouged by high Internet prices in comparison to the rest of the developed world.

The telecom giant deceitfully claimed to offer lower prices for a variety of its services than any of its customers could possibly receive, thereby impeding competition and serving to further concentrate a market that is already ruled by regional duopolies.

"This decision validates the nearly half a million Canadians who signed the Stop The Meter petition to voice their concerns about Big Telecom price gouging," says OpenMedia.ca executive director Steve Anderson. "This certainly foreshadows many of the concerns that will be raised by OpenMedia.ca and others at the upcoming CRTC hearings on Internet pricing."

BACKGROUND:
OpenMedia.ca is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization working to advance and support an open and innovative communications system in Canada. Our primary goal is to increase public awareness and informed participation in Canadian media, cultural, information, and telecommunication policy formation. We strive to make media and telecommunications more transparent, with broader and more representative public participation. Our job is to shine a spotlight on key media policy developments, and provide essential tools and information for citizen engagement.

CRTC Hearing on UBB: The CRTC hearing that resulted from all-party support of the Stop The Meter campaign is set to start July 11th. OpenMedia.ca will be there, along with other experts, to represent the interests of Canadian citizens and innovative businesses.

For more information, please contact:

Lindsey Pinto – 778.238.7710 – [email protected]
Steve Anderson – 604.837.5730 – [email protected]