Bell (TSX:BCE), Rogers (TSX:RCI.A) and Telus (TSX:T) – Canada's "Big Three" cellphone providers – filed a motion in the Federal Court of Appeals July 2 to delay new mobile guidelines outlined by the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) last month.
In early June, the CRTC announced the end of three-year mobile phone contracts and instituted a limit on roaming charges. The changes would allow Canadians to cancel their cellphone contracts after two years. Data charges would be capped at $50 per month and international data charges at $100 per month. The new rules were expected to start on December 2.
Bell, Rogers and Telus are seeking to delay the implementation of the guidelines until 2017.
OpenMedia.ca, a Vancouver-based group that lobbied for the wireless changes, reacted to this move by saying that the big telecom companies have a "gross sense of entitlement."
"After vigilance by Canadians of all walks of life, policy makers are finally starting to fix our broken telecom market," said OpenMedia.ca executive director Steve Anderson.
"The old giant telecom providers had a chance to listen but instead they're taking Canadians to court with the hopes of delaying safeguards until 2017."
