Class action lawsuit against cellular companies

[GingeRRRBeef]

Regarding the "system access" fee

LINK

[Euro838]

That's very interesting as I always thought these fees were bogus since they varied between service providers and plans. Rogers used to waive these fees if you signed up for a 3 year contract.

So does anyone know if these fees are just kept by the providers or are they remitted to a federal body?

[Toms-SC]

Cell phone plans are a rip off here in Canada.

[Jayson]

wow that's nuts... I worked for Telus Mobility for a while and we were told that the fee was for the CRTC... but i guess that was a bunch of bullshit... Hope they win this class action, i'll be owed hundreds

[lint]

At TM, the fee is pure margin, profit. Taking candy from a baby.

[HondaRice]

comes out to 96 dollars a each

each year, each user it adds up

[kenny]

Unfortunately the only winners if this case ever wins are the lawyers handling it as they will take most of the $ leaving each user signed up to the class action a few bucks

[Gainsbarre]

Status quo would keep me wealthy...I've been long both TELUS and Rogers stock for the past 5 years and have never owned a cell phone (and was to avoid owning one for as long as possible because of things like this).

[savedByAVolvo]

Cell phone rates in the USA are wayy cheaper. Why? The Canadian dollar is at par? maybe it's because they have more people? Why don't we let some us networks into canada, then we can benifit from price decreases from their companies as well as the competing canadian ones!!

[benyl]

Simple really. Economies of scale. The US has 10 times as many people as Canada.

[lint]

If US companies were to come up here, they'd just be leasing towers from the incumbents anyways. I can't see any US company coming up here and investing the money to put up their own towers and infrastructure.

[Godfuader]

Originally posted by savedByAVolvo
Cell phone rates in the USA are wayy cheaper. Why? The Canadian dollar is at par? maybe it's because they have more people? Why don't we let some us networks into canada, then we can benifit from price decreases from their companies as well as the competing canadian ones!!

That would only work if consumers were willing to support competition. Right now the 3 providers are dominating the market. Whats their incentive to make it affordable? Where else are you going to go? Our data plans are one of the highest in the world because a majority of the data users are corporate clients who dont have to pay from their own pockets.

In the US, everyone and their mother has data because you get some amazing plans. Cingular family specials in the US last summer were 2 phones, 450 daytime, unlimted evenings/wkds, unlimited mobile to mobile, no long distance, no roaming (the whole country is considered local) and data for $55/mth. Right now with fido for $55/mth I get 100 daytime, unlimited incoming, 100 long distance and mobile to mobile.

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by Godfuader

In the US, everyone and their mother has data because you get some amazing plans.

Those amazing plans are due to population density. These types of services will never be as cheap in Canada as things are in the U.S and Europe, because there are only 3.2 people per sq/km vs. U.S = 31 and E.U = 100.

Fewer people + more land = higher infrastructure costs.

[Eleanor]

^ how much of the population is within 100 miles of the US border though? Isn't it like 85% or something? If you cut canada in half (north-south) i wonder where your population density would be at. We're getting ripped off, plain and simple.

[davidI]

Originally posted by benyl
Simple really. Economies of scale. The US has 10 times as many people as Canada.

Please explain to me why Australia, Yemen, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and even Zimbabwe have cheaper plans (those are just the places I've been to in the last 2 months that have had cheaper service)? You can't tell me it's due to economies of scale because the populations in many of those countries are small and spread out, just as in Canada. An unlimited monthly plan in Yemen right now is going for around $10US. Their phones are also way more advanced than what is available from Canadian carriers. How's that possible from a country with a GDP/capita of less than $400?

I've often thought that a low budget service provider could do great in Canada...the only problem is that Telus, Bell, Rogers etc. could all cut their rates to compete and still be extremely profitable so it's a risky move. There is certainly an oligopoly in the Canadian system. The US has more providers and thus more competition, and more choice. Just look at the difference in cell plan rates across the country and you'll begin to see how fvcked the Canadian system is.

[JRSC00LUDE]

While I agree the charge is nothing more than gouging, I hope they (the law firm) lose purely on principle.

Those greasy rats will throw a class action lawsuit at anything that walks if there's a potential for some profit. It's not like they actually give a flying f*** about the consumer. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I got sued for saying that if they thought they could get enough out of me buy a new suit or a slice of pie and a coffee.