Demand a fair deal on your cell bill

You pay too much for your cellphone bill

But, you don’t need anyone to tell you that, do you?

This week Canada’s Big Three telecoms finally came forward with reasonable prices; offering 10GB of data for $60, with unlimited talk and text.¹ What spurred the change of heart? A little competition from Shaw’s Freedom Mobile.²

The temporary break in pricing shows telecoms are able to offer prices at half, or sometimes a third, of what they normally (over)charge us.³ They've tipped their hands and now Canadians know they can do better.

And we’re not going back. These so-called “deals” ended Tuesday, but let’s show the Big Three we’re not going back to paying $85 for 2GB of data.^{4, 5, 6}

Demand reasonable prices: Ask the Big Three to extend their promotion — from a one weekend extravaganza that left customers empty-handed after waiting for hours,⁷ to a permanent offering.

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Don’t forget: Canadians’ cellphone bills are still some of the highest in the world.^{8, 9}

We need to keep this weekend’s momentum up and make these types of lower prices permanent — not just a desperate, but short-lived, price war. Just this one weekend offer will save Canadians millions of dollars in monthly cellphone bills — but it’s not enough.

This weekend we saw enormous lines and even shuttered stores, and reports of people waiting hours and hours on the phone and online — that’s how overwhelming the demand for lower prices is.^{10, 11}

Shaw’s Freedom Mobile offer was enough to spark this change, but it’s the result of hundreds of thousands of Canadians speaking up and demanding more choice that led us here. This deal was only made possible with a mixture of new phone unlocking rules,¹² two-year contracts,¹³ and spectrum set aside for new entrants.¹⁴

Democratic engagement — your voices — over many years has shaped the rules to improve market choices and lead us to this moment.

But we must keep going. $60 for 10GB is still not low enough, and having it for one weekend only is a marketing gimmick — one that Canadians have made backfire. Now we know what Big Telecom can actually afford to charge us when it comes down to it, and all that after just one move by one competitor.

We have to act now. Sign your name above to demand Big Telecom offer fair prices and help us keep up the fight.

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Footnotes:
[1] Canadian carriers say response to $60/10GB promos has been overwhelming: MobileSyrup
[2] Shaw 'set off a bomb' in the cellphone data market, experts say: Vancouver Sun
[3] Figure 4, Canadian Data Caps Summary Report: OpenMedia
[4] Smartphone plans: Bell
[5] Smartphone plans: Rogers
[6] Smartphone plans: Telus
[7] Wireless competition heats up as Big Three telecoms chase rival with $60 deal: Financial Post
[8] Why Canadian cell phone bills are among the most expensive on the planet: National Post
[9] Canadian cellular prices declining, mainly for talk and text, report finds: CBC
[10] Photos of lines at mall: Global TV cameraman, Twitter
[11] Canadian carrier support lines falter due to massive interest in 10GB promo: MobileSyrup
[12] Unlocked cellphones mean Canadians will save money at home and abroad, says advocate: CBC
[13] New CRTC wireless rules ban contract break fees after 2 years: CBC
[14] Majority of wireless spectrum in next auction to be set aside for small firms: CTV

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Press: Katy Anderson | Phone: +1 (888) 441-2640 ext. 1 | Office: +1 (844) 891-5136 | katy@openmedia.org