How would you safeguard consumer telephone service quality in markets that don’t have competitive choice?
In areas that are now forborne, the CRTC has already determined that there is a sufficient level of competition to discipline prices and so it is presumed that service quality can also be disciplined by market forces. If you don’t like the quality, you have the choice of other service providers.
But what do we do with the other places? That is a question that the CRTC is grappling with.
Up until yesterday, phone companies tracked 17 different quality metrics and had to report on action plans when they achieved failing grades on any for 3 consecutive months. In addition, there was a plan that rebated money to customers using a formula if there was a particularly bad year for service performance.
The rebates have never amounted to anything that could satiate a customer that suffered from extremely poor service. Between 2002 and 2005 rebates ranged from $0.19 to $2.73 per subscriber per year and there was no requirement to rebate in 2006 and 2007. Rebates were paid to all subscribers, not just those who suffered poor service quality.
Add to that the consideration that there is an ever shrinking number of places deemed ‘non-forborne’, and so fewer customers are impacted by a relatively onerous (ie. costly) reporting regime. As such, the Commission determined that the current reporting requirements are not “efficient and proportionate to their purpose,” nor “minimally intrusive and as minimally onerous as possible,” which are factors required by the Policy Directive. So, the CRTC has trimmed the 17 indictors to just 3:
Bell Aliant, Bell Canada, MTS Allstream, NorthernTel, Northwestel, SaskTel, TBayTel, Télébec, and TCC to continue reporting on a quarterly basis the results for the following indicators: (a) 1.2 – Installation appointments met; (b) 2.1 – Out-of-service trouble reports cleared within 24 hours; and (c) 2.2 – Repair appointments met.
The CRTC has launched a follow-up mini-proceeding to look at whether there are other key indicators to be tracked or if the Commission should rely on a complaint-based regime.
Public comment is due in January with a final decision by May.
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