The announcement by Bell and Telus that customers will now be charged for incoming text messages again shows business arrogance and insensitivity toward the consumer.
The consumer is to be charged 15 cents for each incoming text message whether they want it or not.The message can be SPAM and the consumer will now have to pay for this.Additionally, the text sender also gets charged.
Fifteen cents is not a lot of money but consider that the vast majority of text messaging is done by youth.These are people who do not have plans that include this feature because of the additional cost of the plan.So these companies are largely preying on those least likely to afford to pay the extra charges.Consider just 15 cents per message multiply that by 10 messages per day and again by 30 days in a month.This adds up to an extra $45 per month; not only for the recipient but also the sender.This of course ignores any responses required.
Obviously this is being used as an enticement to take on a plan.I would consider it more to be a gun to the consumer’s head.The reasons for this move have to be questioned.
Bell Canada is currently on the hot seat with the CRTC who control all Canadian telecommunications including internet.The CRTC have more recently ordered the carriers to open up to more competitive business practices that are to benefit the consumer.This has come about largely because Canadians are paying wireless rates that are among the highest in the world.It stands to reason that in the face of this, the carriers can now claim that a “package” that come with an attached contract is a better deal for the consumer.But is it?
With a contract for services, the consumer is no longer free to change suppliers at will unless they wish to pay a rather hefty fee.This is contrary to the intent of the CRTC directives but the CRTC never addressed these possibilities.
So while conforming to CRTC rulings these companies are now finding new ways of making the market less competitive and to the disadvantage of the consumer.The question the consumer has to answer is how long we will support these practices.