Telecoms file briefs on service fees for radio equipment

Rogers Communications Inc. and Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. have filed comments with the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) over telecommunications and radio equipment service fees. The ministry asked for the briefs last month. “Rogers generally supports the principle of cost-recovery for governmental and regulatory services, including for public goods meant for domestic consumption….however, the department should extend this principle to all fees related to Canadian telecommunications, including spectrum fees,” Howard Slawner, vice president of telecom for the Toronto carrier wrote. The company also called for reduced rates in rural and remote areas to promote innovative use of spectrum in those regions. It further wants the Service Fees Act (SFA) to be looked at to see the impact of fees on wireless prices in Canada. “According to our estimates, the department will collect an additional $13.8 million from the mobile industry for FY2023/24 for cellular and PCS spectrum, now totalling $217 million–costs ultimately paid by end-users,” Rogers stated. It endorsed a proposal from BCE Inc. calling for a cap on wireless fees. “SaskTel is responding to this consultation from the position of a Canadian telecommunications operator who is consistently under attack for the price we charge for the valuable service we provide,” the prairie telecom asserted. “We are subject to various regulatory policies, pressures, and government interventions, all of which create direct costs for SaskTel and our subscribers.” Monthly consumer fees will rise if ISED raises its rates, the company said. The department does not so much have a revenue problem as a costs problem, SaskTel added, with fees skyrocketing to cover the shortfall. As an example, the telecom pointed to a $50 listing fee which could be altered to a equipment registration fee of $750–an increase of 1400 per cent. While acknowledging that fees must periodically go up, the firm says the ministry has provided little transparency in the drivers of those increases. Instead, the department is assuming Canadians will automatically accept rising rates. “Canadians are left without scrutiny of the costs and another increasing cost input to the telecom industry,” the filing concluded.

Telecoms file briefs on service fees for radio equipment

Brief | January 20, 2023

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Telecoms file briefs on service fees for radio equipment

Brief | January 20, 2023

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