Canada’s telecom watchdog is expanding its mandate to include complaints about television services such as cable and satellite. And it’s likely to get a lot of business.
Cable bundles infuriate customers
Canadians have long been annoyed that cable companies oblige their clients to buy packages of multiple TV stations which include many stations they are not interested in. The packages are put together in such a way that clients often find the stations they want are in different bundles and they have to pay for more than one.
Unbundling has helped much
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) recently obliged cable companies to unbundle their offerings and to allow customers to choose and pay for individual stations. But hundreds of clients have called the CRTC to complain that the cable companies add on many costs that make their bills even higher than they were before.
In the past, the CRTC dealt with complaints about cell phones, land line telephone, and internet providers. As of September 2017 it will also take complaints about TV service.
10,000 complaints about telecoms yearly
The regulator’s complaints commissioner handles about 10,000 complaints about telecoms service every year. The market is dominated by three big telecom companies and Canadians often complain they pay among the highest fees in the world.
If the CRTC finds a service provider is at fault it can require an apology, an explanation or compensation for the client to a maximum of $5,000.
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