CompetitionBureau
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Canada finds Apple's carrier deals don't hurt competition
France may think Apple is up to no good with its carrier deals for the iPhone, but you won't hear similar gripes from Canada. The country's Competition Bureau has determined that there isn't "sufficient evidence" to show that Apple had illegally strong-armed carriers into deals that gave it preferred treatment. While there's no question that the iPhone is a "must-have" for carriers, the regulator says, the terms only have a minor effect at most -- there's plenty of competition, and ditching Apple's agreements wouldn't significantly change the playing field.
Canada's Competition Bureau sues Bell, Rogers and Telus over alleged misleading advertising
Allegations of misleading advertising practices among Canada's big telecom companies has been a recurring subject for some time, and it's now been brought to the fore once again in the form of a multi-million dollar lawsuit. The country's Competition Bureau announced today that, after a five-month investigation, it has decided to sue all three carriers and the industry group that represents them over ads that promote so-called premium texting services. In addition to demanding that such ads stop, the government agency is seeking full customer refunds for any charges incurred and a $10 million penalty from each carrier, plus an additional $1 million from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. For its part, the CWTA has unsurprisingly taken issue with the lawsuit, saying in a statement that it reached out to the Bureau last year to discuss the issue, and that its actions today "could disrupt the text message services, such as severe weather alerts, charitable donations, flight status updates or sports scores, on which millions of Canadian consumers depend." You can find that full statement, and the Competition Bureau's announcement of the lawsuit, at the links below.
