Canada's equivalent of the USA's FCC, managed to collect enough backbone to utter a statement about directing Canadian mobile carriers to unlock any of their phones without charging money for doing so. The current going rate is around $50, a bit less if you trust that shady character in the alley.
They also murmured something about how it was inappropriate to allow a child to simply reply yes back to a text from their provider to authorize international roaming charges over $100 a month or data overage fees at $50. They politely inquired if the phone companies might consider following the CRTC's new suggestion that only the authorized account holder have approval, even if the teenager swears their parental unit totally said it was OK.
As is their wont, no mention of penalties was made nor did they seem to have acquired any teeth since last they pulled their heads out into the light. You can read more at Slashdot or the CBC, depending on your preference of comments.
"Canada's telecom regulator has announced that as of December 1st, 2017, all individual and small business wireless consumers will have the right to have their mobile devices unlocked free of charge upon request, while all newly purchased devices must be provided unlocked from that day forward."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Nokia snatches clump of 16nm FinFETs, crafts 576 Tbps monster router @ The Register
- Brazilian whacks Intel over 'exploding' Atom smartphone chips @ The Register
- Practical Networking for Linux Admins: TCP/IP @ Linux.com
- Buying a Memory Card – What You Need to Know @ Hardware Secrets
I’ve been telling people to
I’ve been telling people to buy phones outright here for years. They can’t even be bothered to look past what the big 3 put on their front page to understand they could be paying 1/2 to 1/3 of their current plan if they bought the phone outright and actually own their phone too.
funniest thing Jer, I read
funniest thing Jer, I read this article, then listened to cbc on the way to work, “Great news for cellphone customers, not so good for the providers…….” I like your article better. And to Shambles, best deal I’ve ever seen in Canada for a “bring your own phone” that’s not a pay as you go deal is 10%
I expect them to increase
I expect them to increase their costs to cover unlocking costs, crtc has reported the providers made a combined $35mill last year on unlocks , I’m sure they don’t wanna loose that
Oh, I have every faith in
Oh, I have every faith in them attempting to double that next year as punishment for the CRTC pretending to have any control over the market whatsoever.
My favourite part being that we would be the ones actually suffering.