{"id":316,"date":"2009-02-19T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-19T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=316"},"modified":"2009-02-19T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-02-19T07:00:00","slug":"pre-empting-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=316","title":{"rendered":"Pre-empting competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bell\"<\/a>Early last week, Bell filed an application [zip<\/a>, 51KB] to change the process for Canadians to switch their phone company. While the application claims that their proposal will enhance competition and benefit customers, these results are less than obvious to me.<\/p>\n

The way things work currently, customers agree to an offer from a service provider and give the new company the authority to act on their behalf to notify the old company. It is a process that has worked for the past 15 years.<\/p>\n

Bell believes that the strength of competitive forces and the prevalence of services bundling have rendered the current processes to be unwarranted. It went so far as to suggest that the process is at odds with the Policy Direction requirement to minimize regulatory intervention.<\/p>\n

Bell wants users to have to contact their current phone company themselves to cancel their service.<\/p>\n

As I understand it, Bell wants you to:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. agree to a new deal with your new service provider, then<\/li>\n
  2. try to get through to your current company to cancel your old service, listening to offers to “please stay, we’re sorry we mistreated you and made you feel like we overcharged you” and,<\/li>\n
  3. somehow coordinate so that your new company and old company make the transition happen somewhat seamlessly. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Of course, the fact that the old company will do their best to convince you to stay, is why Bell says this enhances competition to the benefit of customers. <\/p>\n

    The Companies submit that from the end-user’s perspective, winback activities can only serve to enhance consumer welfare. Furthermore, the current transfer process is detrimental to end-users by denying them important information regarding their existing contract obligations with their current TSP. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Of course, under Bell’s proposal, the old phone company won’t let you leave if there is an outstanding billing dispute, whether from a contract, a bundle or just plain errors. I’m not sure how this proposal enhances consumer welfare. I think that the ability for consumers to walk away is an important leveling of the balance of power in consumers dealing with big companies.<\/p>\n

    While Bell’s application deals with long distance and local services, it would likely be extended to wireless number portability processes, presenting a risk to wireless substitution from the new competitors.<\/p>\n

    Coincident with the Bell application, a US Court recently upheld<\/a> FCC restrictions on Verizon win-back campaigns that relied on customer contact lists generated by the submission of transfer requests from competitor cable companies. Verizon had argued that the FCC violated its First Amendment rights of free speech, to which the Court ruled: <\/p>\n

    the executing carrier is disabled only from using an opportunity fortuitously placed in its hands by a technological necessity \u2014 the fact that its technical cooperation is essential to the implementation of the submitting carrier\u2019s competitive victory. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Many of the arguments put forward<\/a> by Verizon sound similar to those in the Bell application. <\/p>\n

    Technorati Tags:
    Bell<\/a>, CRTC<\/a>, Verizon<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Early last week, Bell filed an application [zip, 51KB] to change the process for Canadians to switch their phone company. While the application claims that their proposal will enhance competition and benefit customers, these results are less than obvious to me. The way things work currently, customers agree to an offer from a service provider …<\/p>\n

    Pre-empting competition<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPre-empting competition • Telecom Trends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Early last week, Bell filed an application to change the process for Canadians to switch their phone company. 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