The Devil You Know: Wireless Providers Ask For CRTC Oversight Of Consumer Terms

In an unusual development, the CRTC has initiated a proceeding that may lead to possible re-regulation of the terms and conditions for the provision of wireless services to consumers.  Even more surprisingly, the proceeding is in part the result of an application by a wireless service provider that requested that the Commission step in to regulate some aspects of currently deregulated wireless services.

In its Notice of Consultation, the Commission is first seeking comments on whether the conditions for forbearance have changed sufficiently to warrant CRTC intervention in the development of a national retail wireless services code.

The development and implementation of a CRTC-approved wireless consumer code would be a marked departure for the Commission, which has, for the most part, consistently taken a hands-off approach to regulation of the wireless industry, imposing very few obligations on the provision of wireless service.  Current requirements are limited to