TORONTO – Experts say Canadian travellers face among the highest fees for international roaming on their cellphones after years of rate hikes by the country’s largest carriers.
Gerry Wall, president of Wall Communications Inc., says roaming rates offered by the largest Canadian carriers are “considerably higher” than those in the U.S. and most European countries in part because they lack flexibility.
Canada’s telecommunications watchdog has taken notice, ordering the Big 3 companies — BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. — on Monday to detail how they plan to curb rising cellphone fees that customers face when travelling abroad.
Wall, whose company publishes an annual report comparing Canadian phone and internet prices to others around the world, says companies could offer weekly or monthly roaming packages rather than a daily flat rate, or borrow from models where cellphone plans already bake in roaming costs.
The CRTC says Canadians lack choice when roaming and most consumers cannot select plans tailored to their usage and duration of travel, unlike in other countries including the U.S., Australia and Germany.
The big telecom companies have until Nov. 4 to respond to the regulator, which warned it will launch a public proceeding on the matter if it “finds that sufficient action is not taken.”
