Evidence of meeting #149 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was rogers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Iqwinder Gaheer Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
Mr. Staffieri, are they given the option to cancel the contract, yes or no?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
As Bret said, when it comes to the set-top box, if it's a service they don't want to pay for, then the customer has the option to return the set-top box and no longer pay for it.
Liberal
Iqwinder Gaheer Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
Can I get an answer from Bell? If a customer is not happy with price increases, at the end of that road, are they able to cancel that contract, yes or no?
Senior Vice-President, Legal and Regulatory, BCE Inc.
Our customers can always choose month-to-month services at the outset of their arrangement with us, or if they enter into a contract, they can exit at any time. In the case of our TV contracts, which we're talking about here today, they may refund to us a portion or all of the credit we gave them toward the cost of the professional install. If you enter into a contract, we waive the cost of the professional install, and then you can exit that contract any time and pay back, in the first year, the cost of that install, or, in the second year, half the cost of that install.
Liberal
Iqwinder Gaheer Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
What about the remaining contract fees for the months that are remaining? Do they have to pay a penalty there, or are they waived?
Senior Vice-President, Legal and Regulatory, BCE Inc.
No, there is no penalty, and they don't pay the remaining fees.
Liberal
Iqwinder Gaheer Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
For both, first Rogers and then Bell, are there plans to revise contract terms to limit or eliminate mid-contract price increases? If so, when can customers expect these sorts of changes to come forward?
Mr. Staffieri, you can go first.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
We continually look to adjust and alter the value proposition to the customer and what's included or not included in the contract. The key is to make sure that we're very clear and transparent in how we do that. As I said, with the issue at hand, we are very clear on the TV programming, content, viewing experience and the set-top box that's already included in the base package. Bret has walked through that.
We'll continue to look at the additional services. Our Ignite TV has just evolved into Rogers Xfinity, and that brings a whole host of other entertainment experiences based on the Entertainment OS platform that we license from Comcast. You can expect us to continue to vary the value proposition based on the evolution of technology in our industry.
Senior Vice-President, Legal and Regulatory, BCE Inc.
As I mentioned, I think we have a high degree of transparency with customers about the nature of our arrangement. We strive to offer both non-contract and contract options to customers so they can find one that meets their needs in the competitive market, and that's working for us today.
Liberal
Iqwinder Gaheer Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
Look, to be honest, I don't know if I heard an answer from either group on that question, but the point I want to make, and the point Canadians are making, is the fact that they aren't happy with these mid-contract price increases.
When they sign a contract, they aren't reading the fine print. Oftentimes, when they receive an update on their phone or an update to a contract for whatever service you provide.... Not everyone is a lawyer. Even the lawyers are not going through the contract line by line, so no matter how transparent you think you are with the contract, it does catch some people off guard when there is a mid-contract price increase. Clearly, Canadians don't like those contract increases, so they expect a change there, whether it's a long-term contract or a month-to-month contract.
Thank you.
Liberal
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Thank you.
Mr. Graham, you were saying that the price of digital set-top boxes was trending downwards. You said that Bell hadn't raised the price in five years. However, beyond digital set-top boxes, you increased subscription fees as recently as February. Can you give us some justification for that?
To provide some context, I would remind you that, in September 2023, the average price for a gigabit of data in Canada was $5.37, while in other western countries, such as France and Italy, it is $0.20 and $0.09 respectively.
Canada is one of the countries where telephone services are the most expensive, so why did Bell Canada increase its subscription price in February 2024?
Senior Vice-President, Legal and Regulatory, BCE Inc.
I'm sorry. I need a clarification.
Are you asking about the price of our television service or the price of our wireless service?
Bloc
Senior Vice-President, Legal and Regulatory, BCE Inc.
For both services, as I said, we aim to be as clear and transparent with our customers as we can. When you look at the overall trend of pricing, the amount customers pay is going down across all of our services.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Graham, if you want to be transparent, answer my question.
I'm asking you why it went up last February.
Senior Vice-President, Legal and Regulatory, BCE Inc.
The prices of individual plans go up and down based on market conditions and the cost of inputs. The clear overall trend is that prices are going down for all our services. The actual amount that customers pay for all of our services is decreasing.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
I understand that we're not going to get much of an answer.
Mr. Staffieri, do you feel that the situation we've been describing for some time now, which is also the customers' situation, corresponds to what the consumer protection codes state? They require service providers to clearly communicate all additional charges in a contract, and the CRTC reminds us that contractual provisions allowing for significant changes to equipment costs are not compatible with price clarity and certainty.
In light of that statement about consumer protection codes, I'll repeat my question. Do you feel that you are going against them?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
We comply with all the legislation and regulations that apply to our industry, as well as to our customer commitments and interactions.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
In that case, Mr. Staffieri, why did the CRTC send you a letter about this on October 30, 2024?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
We attend to any correspondence we receive. As I said, that's not only our intent, but, in actual fact, we look to comply with all the regulations and legislative rules.
Bloc
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
I'm not specifically clear on which correspondence you're referring to. We have quite a bit of interaction and correspondence with the CRTC, as well as with other regulatory bodies. If you'd like to provide that, it is probably a matter of public record as to what our response was to the specific letter you're referring to.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
I'm talking about a letter from the CRTC expressing concern about your practices, and you're telling me that there is more than one. That's reassuring.
