A new Canadian coalition is calling for a national virtual ‘Day of Action’ on March 16, to ask the federal government to lower wireless and internet prices.
“During the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, reliable and affordable internet connectivity has become absolutely essential for every aspect of life,” explains the coalition’s press release on Thursday.
“Yet, the federal government and regulators are giving free rein to big phone and cable companies to drive up prices while posting huge profits, unnecessarily taking hundreds of millions of taxpayer-funded labour subsidies, boosting dividend payouts to shareholders and laying off hundreds of workers. Millions of Canadians are struggling to make ends meet and pay some of the highest telecom bills in the world while others are unable to access high-quality reliable connections entirely as a result,” added the coalition, named Affordable Internet Day of Action.
The coalition is being led by Vancouver-based non-profit and consumer advocate group, OpenMedia. The full list of current participants can be seen below, with a final list coming on March 9:
The virtual day of action is calling on the federal government, the CRTC and Competition Bureau to “take immediate action to promote competition and affordable pricing.”
It’s unclear if the federal government will listen and make any changes based on this day of action. But hey, they’re doing a great job of tracking quarterly price changes for 2GB to 6GB data plans?
Earlier today, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected an appeal by major telecoms, in regards to the CRTC’s 2019 wholesale internet rates ruling.
