Industry committee  One of the things we do when we get a complaint is make sure that the service provider has engaged in troubleshooting. That's not just about their own facilities; it's also helping the customer figure out things: What modem do you have? How old is your modem? How far is your modem from your equipment?

Industry committee  I do not have the data to answer that question. Nonetheless, I can say that sometimes the resolution of the complaint does depend on the equipment and the device, which requires a change of equipment. Ensuring the quality of services is work that happens between the consumer and the provider.

Industry committee  Thank you.

Industry committee  Again, I don't have statistics I can share with you about that. What I can say is that it is very common for service providers to take a look at the customer's equipment when they are troubleshooting issues. That's been our experience. When we're working with complaints, that is our expectation, and we follow up on that and get reports on what was found.

Industry committee  No, it does not mean that there is compensation in nine cases out of 10. It means that the case is resolved to the satisfaction of the consumer. Sometimes, it is simply a matter of correcting a billing error, which does not require compensation.

Industry committee  I want to make a clarification. Our clients are not service providers, but the consumers who file complaints against service providers. We help fix problems and we also give a roadmap to service providers. We speak out about what causes consumers to file complaints and what service providers could do better to avoid complaints.

Industry committee  It won't surprise you that the largest service providers generate the most complaints. That's not surprising. We file an annual report every year. You can always see the complaint data there. The information is well laid out in the report, where you will find the number of complaints against each service provider.

Industry committee  It's not that there are more complaints. Rather, it's that 10% of the complaints that come to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services are from rural consumers, but that number rises to 20% for Internet services and their quality.

Industry committee  It depends on the circumstances. If the customer is on a plan that provides them up to 100 megabits per second and they're regularly getting up to 25, and we find that there's a plan available from this provider that's up to 50, then we will usually require that provider to compensate the customer for the difference between those two plans for the months that the customer was paying for them.

Industry committee  No, it's not. It is an independent agency. Its mandate comes under the CRTC, but the CCTS is independent.

Industry committee  No, we are funded directly by industry. We charge service providers for each complaint received by the CCTS to recover our costs of handling those complaints.

Industry committee  I speak French well enough, but I am more comfortable in English.

Industry committee  Not really, as it's about billing. Service provider clients look to the CCTS to resolve their problems. We resolve them. After that, we bill the service provider directly. I cannot comment on the CRTC. There are other funding options, such as taxes on Canadians or on the sector from which the complaints come from.

Industry committee  Last year, we handled approximately 13,000 complaints. It is important to note that the CCTS is usually the consumer's last resort. This is not to say that consumers have to get to that point before they file a complaint with the CCTS. However, the majority of Canadians wait before filing a complaint with the CCTS.

Industry committee  It's hard to say. The number of complaints we receive depends on many factors. So it is impossible to know whether that would result in more complaints. Measures whose purpose is to ensure that consumers receive precise and accurate information about the services they purchase are the most important measures to us.