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Canada: Telco watchdog cracks down on unfair roaming rules

 |  August 3, 2014

Canada’s telecommunications watchdog has reportedly banned wireless operators from imposing unfair roaming rules on their customers.

Reports say the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission issued a prohibition order Thursday that bars wireless carriers from imposing exclusivity contracts on smaller companies that would force them to use more expensive roaming networks.

The move followed the CRTC’s public hearings held last December to investigate the matter and probe whether some wireless providers were forcing smaller competitors into unfair terms to use their networks for roaming services. According to the watchdog, it found “clear instances of unjust discrimination” by industry leader Rogers through its Communications Partnership. That partnership included the practice by Rogers of imposing exclusivity clauses in roaming contracts that unfairly barred smaller rivals form using networks from any competing company, according to the CRTC.

Rogers then reportedly hiked up roaming rates for those smaller rivals.

The CRTC’s latest move is part of a broader agenda to boost competition in the nation’s wireless industry and prevent abuses of dominance from the nation’s three largest wireless operators, Rogers, Bell and Telus.

Full content: CTV News

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