The CRTC, the Canadian telecom regulator o, has this on Thursday (CRTC 2017-200). With the SIM lock ban, the Canadian government wants to increase competition between mobile phone providers. Currently, there are only a few providers which caused high tariffs for consumers, especially when compared to other countries.
The CRTC 2017-200 also stipulates that mobile devices that have currently a SIM lock, must be unlocked by the mobile phone provider free of charge. The new rules will benefit consumers as well as small businesses that want to unlock. When it comes to large enterprises, mobile phone providers can still negotiate SIM locks.
Previously, some mobile phone providers have refused to unlock mobile devices that were purchased by customers for other phone networks. Since 2013, the Canadian mobile operators were obliged to remove SIM locks at the customer's request. However, they would charge a free of around 50 Canadian dollars (about 34 euros) for the unlock codes. It is estimated that the providers cashed in a total of almost 38 million Canadian dollars (around 25 million euros) in 2016. At the end of 2017, this revenue source will dry up.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also rejected imposing a tax on broadband Internet access. The Standing Committee of Canadian Heritage of the Canadian Parliament had proposed a tax of five percent. The idea was to use the revenue to subsidize Canadian TV and video game productions.
Although the charge on cable TV connections has been abolished, the number of subscribers is decreasing. Trudeau is nevertheless against an Internet tax and justified his rejection with keeping the election promise of his Liberal Party to relieve the financial burden of low and middle income earners.
