Canada banning fees for text messages! Well, not quite

September 26, 2008 by admin

Bloomberg reports that Canada’s Prime Minister will be allowing telecoms industry regulators to “ban fees for unsolicited text messages on mobile phones and other ‘unfair charges.’” While that seems like a pretty narrow scope, think about that (with history as a guide) “unfair charges” is an extremely flexible term. It could spell the end of outrageous […]

Bloomberg reports that Canada’s Prime Minister will be allowing telecoms industry regulators to “ban fees for unsolicited text messages on mobile phones and other ‘unfair charges.’” While that seems like a pretty narrow scope, think about that (with history as a guide) “unfair charges” is an extremely flexible term. It could spell the end of outrageous overage charges like a quarter per text, which one could argue are “unfair” given the extreme disparity between that cost and normal cost. This is assuming, of course, that you’re Canadian, which I’m sure most of you out there are.

It’s part of a push on the PM’s part for consumer rights, an area sorely needing attention in the US, where frivolous claims are rewarded with millions while legitimate concerns like arbitrary bandwidth caps aren’t given a second look. Another reason to move to Canada — unless of course you’ve an iPhone.