Competition Bureau suing Rogers over unlimited data claim
Author of the article:
Article content
GATINEAU, Que. — The Competition Bureau says it’s suing Rogers Communications Inc. over the company’s allegedly false claim that it offers unlimited data in its “Infinite” wireless phone plans.
The bureau alleged Monday that Rogers’ ads create the false or misleading impression that the plans provide consumers with limitless data, when in reality data service is severely throttled once a data cap is reached. It says data speeds are reduced, or throttled, by over 99% once a customer hits the cap.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Competition Bureau suing Rogers over unlimited data claim Back to video
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“Canadians need accurate and truthful information when purchasing goods and services, especially essential services like wireless data plans,” said competition commissioner Matthew Boswell in a statement.
Rogers says in a statement that the advertising of its Infinite plans is clear and truthful, and it will fight the litigation.
It says the plans introduced in 2019 helped eliminate overage fees at a time when data use started growing exponentially. It said such plans are commonplace in the industry and the bureau’s decision to single out Rogers after five years is quite concerning.
Other telecom companies in Canada also advertise plans with “unlimited” data that reduce speeds, generally to up to 512 KB per second, after a threshold is reached. Like Rogers, they usually note the actual speeds for the unlimited data in the footnotes.
The bureau says it has filed an application with the Competition Tribunal to have Rogers stop the misleading advertising, pay a penalty, and issue restitution to Infinite wireless phone plan customers.
The legal action comes a little over a year after the Competition Bureau obtained a court order requiring Rogers to produce records and information relevant to the investigation.
As part of an earlier legal response to the bureau, Rogers noted that from a practical perspective, Infinite customers get access to high-speed mobile data in such significant quantities that it is effectively unlimited for their purposes.
The current plans on the Rogers website advertise either 175 GB or 200 GB before speeds are reduced. The CRTC said that as of the second quarter of this year, Canadians used an average of 9.27 GB of data per month on their mobile devices.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.