Press Releases

Cell phone prices rising 13% more quickly than inflation

WHO:
Steve Anderson, Executive Director, OpenMedia.ca
Lindsey Pinto, Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca

WHAT:
J.D Power & Associates released a study that shows Canadians are paying 13% more for cell phone service than they did last year – this while Canada’s overall inflation rate holds steady at 1%.

At the start of 2013, the average monthly cell phone bill in Canada topped $77, an increase of $9 from 2012, according to the study.

OpenMedia.ca says that this is largely due to a “broken cell phone market”, in which three large players control upwards of 94% of services, and where smaller independent players may be on their way out. Read more »

April 12, 2013 – Telus, one of Canada’s “Big Three” cell phone companies, is in talks to purchase Mobilicity, one of Canada’s few independent cell phone providers, in a move that OpenMedia.ca is saying will stifle choice in Canada’s already-broken wireless market.

Mobilicity is one of only three carriers in Canada that are independent of the Big Three cell phone companies, Bell, Rogers, and Telus.

OpenMedia.ca says that the sale of Mobilicity to Telus will stifle choice in an already monopolistic wireless market. According to the group, the deal also gives big telecom conglomerates more room to raise prices and maintain disrespectful customer service, as the check on the market provided by new entrants diminishes. Read more »

Crowdsourced report puts the lived realities of Canadian cell phone users on display

March 7, 2013 – A study released today by non-profit organization OpenMedia.ca shows a majority of Canadian respondents report being forced into accepting poor—often disrespectful—service. The group identifies the lack of choice in the cell phone market as the cause, pointing out that nearly 94% of the market is controlled by three large players: Bell, Telus, and Rogers.

Entitled Time for an Upgrade: Demanding Choice in Canada's Cell Phone Market, the study draws upon Canadians’ lived realities in outlining recommendations that facilitate more choice and innovation in the cell phone market. Find the executive summary here or read the full report. Key citizen stories can also be found below.

The study comes as key decisions that will affect the future of cell phone service are mulled over by both the CRTC (see http://cellphonehorrorstory.ca) and Industry Canada (see http://youtu.be/WTarlxew2a0 for CTV coverage). Read more »

OpenMedia.ca says new NDP bill is a stepping stone in protecting Canadians’ online privacy rights

February 27, 2013 – Grassroots pro-Internet organization OpenMedia.ca is hopeful that NDP MP Charmaine Borg’s private member’s bill will act as a stepping stone towards protecting Canadians’ online privacy from government authorities. OpenMedia.ca is a non-partisan organization, but one which acknowledges politicians who listen to Canadians and take steps towards Internet openness, including online privacy, security, and affordability.

At a press conference Wednesday, Borg officially announced her intent to pass a Private Member’s Bill that would force companies to notify Canadians of any release of their private information, and would give the Privacy Commissioner enforcement powers to prevent non-compliance. Read more »

Public interest group faced off against Big Three at week-long CRTC hearing

WHO:
Lindsey Pinto, Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca

WHAT:
Canadians are hopeful that a CRTC hearing this week will lead to the development of a Code of Conduct that ensures better deals for cell phones.

Public interest and consumer groups, academics, independent providers, and individuals appeared before the CRTC from Monday to Friday, pushing for measures that could safeguard against price-gouging and lead to more innovation and choice. However Canada’s “Big Three” telecom companies—Bell, Rogers, and Telus—which control nearly 94% of the market, also appeared, but were unwilling to take many of the steps that would fix what CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais called a market that “is not working”. Read more »

Rogers accused of taking over public assets intended for wireless startup companies

January 28, 2013 – Grassroots group OpenMedia.ca is warning that a “backroom deal” between telecom conglomerates Shaw Communications Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. will lead to less choice—and higher prices—for Canadians’ mobile Internet and phone service. The group is calling on Canadians to push Industry Minister Christian Paradis to block the deal at http://DemandChoice.ca.

The deal, valued at $700-million, would allow Rogers to acquire Shaw’s public airwave licenses that were supposed to be set aside for new cell phone market entrants. Read more »

Big Telecom Tries to Flip Last Month’s Public Interest Decision From the CRTC

November 19, 2012 – Big telecom company Bell is once again trying to take over Astral media and gain more control over Canada’s media system. This comes only one month after the CRTC listened to Canadians decrying the deal and shot down the merger, saying that this concentration of power in Bell’s hands would not benefit the public.

Grassroots group OpenMedia.ca and the Stop the Takeover Coalition were thrilled to see the CRTC listen to Canadians and deny Bell’s takeover.

Now, however, Bell is again trying to persuade the CRTC to allow them to acquire Astral. The big telecom company has also launched a PR campaign seemingly targeted at Canadians, which OpenMedia.ca calls “manipulative and disingenuous". Bell is attempting to make the argument that their takeover would benefit Canadians, despite the fact that Canadians have already been clear that this is not the case. Read more »

Pro-Internet community lauds CRTC decision to open up Big Telecom’s costing process

October 26, 2012 – The CRTC announced today that Big Telecom will have to reveal more of its costing process to the public. Now, much of the “confidential” information submitted by Big Telecom to establish wholesale rates will be put on public record.

Today’s decision addresses some of the concerns expressed by independent ISPs during the fight against usage-based billing (see the StopTheMeter.ca campaign). These small providers have argued that Big Telecom arbitrarily hikes wholesale prices and that this price-hiking has led to increasingly limited competition and subsequent price increases for their customers. With these price hikes in mind, Canadians have been calling on the CRTC for a "stop to backdoor Internet price hikes and a transparent review of Big Telecom’s rates.”

Though this decision will contribute to preventing Big Telecom from limiting choice in the Internet service market, Canada still has a long way to go before its telecommunications industry is truly competitive. Read more »

CRTC denies Bell’s bid to take over Astral; finds deal to be counter to public interest

October 18, 2012 – Today the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) listened to Canadians and denied Bell’s proposed takeover of Astral.

The Commission announced at a stakeholder lock-up today that Bell had not proven that this deal would benefit the broadcasting system or be in the public interest.

Canada's media system is already one of the most highly concentrated in the industrialized world. Canadians pay high prices for poor content and services because of a lack of competition and choice—OpenMedia.ca, the Stop the Takeover Coalition, and thousands of Canadians had argued that this deal will only serve to worsen this failing system. Read more »

Grassroots group lauds announcement of public consultation for national rules for wireless

October 11, 2012 – The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced today they will hold a public hearing to develop measures to protect cell phone users.

Grassroots group OpenMedia.ca is welcomes this consultation, noting that with only three large companies controlling 94 percent of the cell phone market in Canada, there simply isn’t enough choice to ensure Canadians are getting a fair deal. Read more »

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is examining Bell Canada's $3.4 billion takeover of Astral Media at hearings in Montreal the week.

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre, an Ottawa-based consumer group is scheduled to appear before the Commission on Wednesday, September 12. PIAC is a member of the Stop the Takeover Coalition, which opposes the acquisition based on the principles at http://openmedia.ca/takeover/principles.

“This deal will give Bell more market power because they will control a remarkable share of television services,” says Public Interest Advocacy Centre counsel Janet Lo, “If the deal goes through, consumers will be offered even less flexibility in packaging and choices to pick and pay only for the television services they want to watch, and consumers will pay higher prices to access broadcasting services.”

“This deal will give Bell more market power because they will control a remarkable share of television services,” says Public Interest Advocacy Centre counsel Janet Lo, “If the deal goes through, consumers will be offered even less flexibility in packaging and choices to pick and pay only for the television services they want to watch, and consumers will pay higher prices to access broadcasting services.”

OpenMedia.ca, a grassroots organization that safeguards the possibilities of the open and affordable Internet, has further concerns about big telecom companies that own both content and the methods of distributing it. Read more »

Mobile-adaptive site launched as threats to open Internet access go global

August 23, 2012 – In response to the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) process and other threats to Internet freedom, Canadian non-profit Internet freedom organization, OpenMedia, is launching a platform to amplify the voices of the global pro-Internet community.

Working with Canadians across the country, OpenMedia led the biggest online campaign in Canadian history—Stop The Meter—along with the public outcry that has thus far stopped online spying bill C-30. OpenMedia hosted a multifaceted online campaign—incorporating social media, direct communication with MPs, viral videos, and educational graphics.

Following those accomplishments, OpenMedia joined with a diverse coalition of groups to launch the StopTheTrap.net petition in June of this year, wading for the first time into international waters. This online petition allowed citizens to push back against the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which contains restrictive binding provisions that could criminalize everyday uses of the Internet. Over 100,000 people from around the world have already signed the petition. Read more »

Canadians kick off international coalition to fight new Internet restrictions proposed in TPP trade agreement

June 27, 2012 – OpenMedia.ca launched a campaign today, supported a by a group of organizations, to stand against the new Internet restrictions, including new content fines, that Internet users will be subject to through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. Read more »

Citizen Outcry Against Bill C-30 Pushes Over Sixty MPs to Add Their Names to OpenMedia.ca Pro-Privacy Listing

WHO:
Steve Anderson, Executive Director, OpenMedia.ca
Lindsey Pinto, Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca

WHAT:
OpenMedia.ca has just released a tool that displays the names of the over sixty Members of Parliament—nearly two-thirds of opposition party members—who have signed up as Pro-Privacy MPs, and taken a stand against warrantless online spying legislation in Canada (Bill C-30). By adding their names, these politicians have publicly committed to work "with Canadians to ensure that any Lawful Access legislation respects our privacy, security, and personal budgets.” Read more »