A few days ago, the Canadian Wireless Code has been updated to prevent telecommunication companies from charging customers to unlock their device. As of December 1, 2017 all newly purchased cell phones must be unlocked for the customer. This regulation will cost Canadian telecommunication companies close to 40 million. This regulation was created to save Canadians money and to give people more control over their mobile devices.
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What are the repercussions of this? The major Canadian telecommunication stocks dropped very slightly due to this.
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How does this work in the US? Do all phones have to be unlocked?
Immediate repercussion = revenue losses for cellphone companies offering the service. Phones in the US are still tied to a network and need to be unlocked and I don't think the FCC cares to change that anytime soon
Typical of what unimportant countries do. If the U.S. passed this kind of legislation it could seriously harm (financially) the phone companies, but since Canada is such a small country it can pass these laws to little impact. Same way the Canadians can put price controls on pharmaceuticals--they aren't an important enough market for it to damage the pharmaceutical companies, but if the U.S. enacted similar price controls it would seriously damage global pharmaceutical research.
Just another of many examples of how the U.S. subsidizes the rest of the world.
Not necessarily true
While I agree with the sentiment I think Canada's legislation is in the right place, fuck the phone companies they nickel and dime with shit like this. Also, we need to seriously re-examine our drug pricing policies in this country, it's outrageous. Our entire healthcare cost structure is outrageous. Wouldn't mind if we cut back on military spending, reroute that money to stimulating business investment, infrastructure, and some entitlements and stop subsidizing NATO, probably one of the very few things I am in agreement with Trump on.
@TNA (make sure you're sitting down) he's seen the light, he's coming around.
I'm concerned the phone costs will just be passed through in another form like a fee. Similar thing happened when banks were fined, they just passed it through in ATM charges, over-draft, loan origination fees etc. So essentially Congress championed how they made the banks pay, but really it was the bank's costumers.
Shhhhhhhhhh, you're not supposed to tell anyone.
Not quite sure I follow given we don't have the same telco companies. How is the US subsidizing lost Canadian revenue for Canadian Telco's?
The pharma thing I could perhaps see but I think what you're getting at is more a product of the rampant corruption of the political system in the US where every political career is bankrolled by private interests.
Agree with this, unless Dances doesn't realise there are other Telcos than what he has in the US....
Dances is one of those pre-banker banker douchebags
This makes no sense. Canadian telecoms are totally unrelated to US telecoms.
40 million seems like a drop in the bucket for Telco / mobile companies. Rogers communications (telco / mobile company) in Canada brought in $20.5 B in revenue for 2015.
yes, but those fees fall straight to the bottom line and Rogers 2016 NI was $900mm so it starts to be a bit more meaningful.
BTW, the US already has the very similar legislation and cell companies have to unlock devices for free so not sure how you guys can say you are subsidizing the rest of the world... Seems like a pretty ignorant statement to me... Actually, the US is the cheapest place in the world to buy an iPhone so you could also make an argument that the rest of the world is subsidizing US customers ;)
Trying to start something?
Well... That's okay. Those phones priced at $199 for 2-yr contract will soon be $249. You squeeze out one fee, another will surface somewhere.
As a Canadian I'm glad. The telco space in Canada is so fucked. There's so little competition that the cost/service is crazy high. Many people I know come down to the US to get plans with international voice + data roaming (or family plans with US residents) and use it in Canada.
Dicta id in assumenda laborum corporis iste est est. Voluptatem enim odit pariatur laudantium quo corrupti qui.
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