I have just filed a complaint with the CRTC about my phone provider's outrageous fees. This is a copy of the complaint.
I am traveling to Europe, specifically to Ireland, for a 6 days for a work meeting.
I thought I could use my phone there. So I looked at my phone provider's services in Europe, and found the "Fido roaming" services:
https://www.fido.ca/mobility/roaming
The fees, at the time of writing, at fifteen (15!) dollars PER DAY to get access to my regular phone service (not unlimited!!).
If I do not use that "roaming" service, the fees are:
- 2$/min
- 0.75$/text
- 10$/20MB
That is absolutely outrageous. Any random phone plan in Europe will be cheaper than this, by at least one order of magnitude. Just to take any example:
https://www.tescomobile.ie/sim-only-plans.aspx
Those fine folks offer a one-time, prepaid plan for €15 for 28 days which includes:
- unlimited data
- 1000 minutes
- 500 text messages
- 12GB data elsewhere in Europe
I think it's absolutely scandalous that telecommunications providers in Canada can charge so much money, especially since the most prohibitive fee (the "non-prepaid" plans) are automatically charged if I happen to forget to remove my sim card or put my phone in "airplane mode".
As advised, I have called customer service at Fido for advice on how to handle this situation. They have confirmed those are the only plans available for travelers and could not accommodate me otherwise. I have notified them I was in the process of filing this complaint.
I believe that Canada has become the technological dunce of the world, and I blame the CRTC for its lack of regulation in that matter. You should not allow those companies to grow into such a cartel that they can do such price-fixing as they wish.
I haven't investigated Fido's competitors, but I will bet at least one of my hats that they do not offer better service.
I attach a screenshot of the Fido page showing those outrageous fees.
I have no illusions about this having any effect. I thought of filing such a complain after the Rogers outage as well, but felt I had less of a standing there because I wasn't affected that much (e.g. I didn't have a life-threatening situation myself).
This, however, was ridiculous and frustrating enough to trigger this outrage. We'll see how it goes...
"We will respond to you within 10 working days."