MPs summon CEOs of Rogers, Bell and Telus to appear at committee about phone prices

MPs summon CEOs of Rogers, Bell and Telus to appear at committee about phone prices

MPs have voted unanimously to summon the chief executives of Canada’s three largest telecommunications companies to testify at a federal committee as it studies the accessibility and affordability of wireless and broadband services.

A motion put forward Wednesday at the House of Commons’ industry committee meeting by NDP MP Don Davies calls on Tony Staffieri, Mirko Bibic and Darren Entwistle — the CEOs of Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp., respectively — to appear and answer questions.

The committee had previously invited the trio, along with Quebecor Inc. CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau, to appear before it.

While Péladeau answered that call earlier this month, Wednesday’s meeting heard from other witnesses representing each of the Big 3.

“With all due respect to them, they are not the ones that this committee requested appear,” said Davies.

“I believe that(these CEOs) have already been requested to appear by the committee, my understanding is on two separate occasions, and have not,” he said.

“I think it’s appropriate to issue summons for them to appear to answer questions on these extremely important matters of national interest to all Canadians from coast to coast to coast.”

Asked for comment on the motion, spokespersons for Rogers and Telus did not immediately respond.

Bell spokeswoman Caroline Audet said in an email that “we will continue to work productively with committee members and the Clerk on this and other important issues, as we have always done.”

Some members of the committee say they are concerned about cellphone and internet prices in Canada, arguing Canadians pay too much for those services.

Those MPs sounded the alarm in January, when Rogers confirmed prices were going up by an average of $5 for wireless customers not on contract and some Bell Canada customers were also told their wireless bills were set to increase.

Telus chief financial officer Doug French previously told The Canadian Press in an interview his company was “not banking on” immediate price increases amid an intense competitive market.

On Monday, representatives of the Competition Bureau and CRTC appeared as witnesses at the committee.

CRTC chief of consumer, research and communications Scott Hutton said consumer price index data shows Canadian telecommunication service prices have declined 16 per cent in the last year.

But he said that is largely in line with international trends of telecom prices going down. Hutton said many Canadians don’t feel their bills are getting lighter and the regulator is “certainly of the opinion that Canadians pay too much for their services.”

“We will be closely monitoring cellphone service prices to ensure that the recent price increase announced in January does not become a trend,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 29, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B, TSX:BCE, TSX:T, TSX:QBR.B)

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version of this story stated the CRTC representatives met with committee on Tuesday.