ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission Letter Addressed to Dawn Hunt (Rogers Communications Partnership)

Ottawa, 7 May 2015

File number: 8665-C12-201212448

Ms. Dawn Hunt
Vice President
Regulatory
Rogers Communications Partnership
rwi_gr@rci.rogers.com

BY E-MAIL

Re: Wireless Code Implementation – Compliance Reports – Confirmation Required

Dear Ms. Hunt:

The purpose of this letter is to obtain confirmation that your company, Rogers Communications Partnership (Rogers), has completed the necessary changes to its contracts, policies, and procedures to implement the Wireless Code (the Code).^{Footnote 1}

Staff requests that Rogers file a response to the concerns set out in more detail below by 22 May 2015. In this response Rogers should provide an answer as to whether, and when, Rogers has taken the actions to come into full compliance with the Code as directed by the Commission in the 14 August 2014 letter.

This letter and all subsequent correspondence form part of a public record. As set out in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-961, Procedures for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure in Commission proceedings^{Footnote 2}, Wireless Service Providers (WSPs) may designate certain information as confidential. WSPs must provide an abridged version of the document involved, accompanied by a detailed rationale to explain why the disclosure of the information is not in the public interest.

All submissions are to be made in accordance with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure, SOR/2010-277.^{Footnote 3}

Yours sincerely,

ORIGINAL SIGNED BY /

Nanao Kachi
Director, Social and Consumer Policy
Consumer Affairs and Strategic Policy

Information to be provided

Staff requests that Rogers file a response by 22 May 2015 to provide an update as to whether the required changes on roaming notifications and the time when disconnections may occur, detailed below, were implemented, and if so, when they were implemented.

Roaming notifications

In section E. of the Code, Bill Management, the Commission required wireless carriers to provide international roaming notifications to customers when. Specifically:

1. A service provider must notify the customer, at no charge, when their device is roaming in another country. The notification must clearly explain the associated rates for voice, text messaging, and data services.
2. Customers may opt out of receiving these notifications at any time.” [Emphasis added]

As further set out in paragraph 140 of the Wireless Code Policy^{Footnote 4} (the Policy):

 “The Commission determines that WSPs must notify customers when their device is roaming in another country. (...) Customers should be able to opt out of these notifications at any time. The Commission also determines that these notifications must be provided to all prepaid and postpaid customers whose devices are able to roam internationally.”

The contract sample you provided with your Wireless Code implementation report indicated that Rogers’ customers may not opt out of the international roaming notification.

In a letter dated 22 May 2014, Commission staff sought clarification on this point and asked Rogers to explain how it considered that its approach was consistent with the requirement set out in the Wireless Code.

In a letter dated 29 May 2014, Rogers replied that:

“As noted in our Wireless Code Implementation Compliance Report (January 2014), Rogers does not consider allowing an opt-out for the Welcome SMS to be in the best interest of the customer. We firmly believe this message to be an essential tool for customers to manage their bills while roaming. Rogers does not have any plans to enable an opt-out of the international roaming notification (or “Welcome SMS”).”

In a letter dated 14 August 2014^{Footnote 5}, the Commission directed Rogers to:

“Change its practices to enable Rogers wireless customers to expressly and knowingly opt out of receiving international roaming notifications, should they choose to do so, consistent with the requirement in section E of the Wireless Code.”

In your reply, dated 22 August 2014, Rogers reiterated that it believed “[a]llowing customers to opt-out of receiving such messages could potentially create a poor overall customer experience.” Rogers further noted that:

“While Rogers has not received any customer requests to opt-out of receiving the Welcome SMS, we have been working for the last several months to enable this functionality. This requires Rogers to make IT and system changes. We are currently in the process of making these changes, and we fully expect them to be ready by the end of 2014.” [Emphasis added]

Time when disconnection may occur

As set out in paragraph 299 of the Policy:

"The Commission determines that except with customer consent or in exceptional circumstances, disconnection may occur only on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. or on weekends between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., unless the weekday or weekend day precedes a statutory holiday, in which case disconnection may not occur after noon. The applicable time is that of the customer's declared place of residence."

In Rogers’ implementation report, it submitted that “All disconnections occur between the hours of 6 am and 2 am, Eastern Time.”

In a letter dated 22 May 2014, Commission staff sought clarification on this point and asked Rogers to explain how it considered that its approach was consistent with the requirement set out in the Wireless Code.

In your reply, dated 29 May 2014, Rogers acknowledged that its practice with respect to the time of day when disconnection may occur is not compliant with the Wireless Code, but submitted a number of policy reasons why it felt that the requirement was not necessary, including different technical requirements for disconnection between landline and wireless services, and the long period of suspension of service before disconnection occurs.

In a letter dated 14 August 2014^{Footnote 6}, the Commission directed Rogers to “Change its practices with respect to when disconnection may occur, consistent with the requirement in section I of the Wireless Code.”

In your reply, dated 22 August 2014, Rogers stated that it was:

“investigating a solution to enable disconnections within the timeframes prescribed by the Wireless Code. This solution will require IT work to reconfigure out switches, as well as process changes. This solution could be ready as early as the end of October 2014. We are also exploring another possible solution which may allow us to begin disconnections during the times prescribed by the Wireless Code earlier. By mid-September we expect to have confirmation of whether a simpler solution could be ready earlier. We will provide the Commission with a further update of our progress at that time.” [Emphasis added]

Date modified:

2015-05-07