The CRTC has committed to evaluating the effectiveness of the Wireless Code and to use the results in the formal review process. The review of the Wireless Code over time assesses whether it meets and continues to meet its objectives, which includes ensuring that consumers are empowered to make informed decisions about wireless services.
The overall objective of the research is to determine how consumers understand their wireless service contracts and their related rights and how that has changed over time. More specifically:
The CRTC developed the Wireless Code to make it easier for Canadians to understand their wireless contracts and to allow consumers to more easily take advantage of competitive offers. Over the past two years, consumers have reported that they are taking advantage of competitive offers more often, are showing a better understanding of their contracts, and have lodged fewer complaints. Furthermore, consumers have indicated that data is becoming increasingly important to Canadians’ wireless contracts.
Taking Advantage of Competitive Offers
Canadians are increasingly taking advantage of a variety of competitive wireless offers.
In particular, Canadians are taking advantage of family plans and employer/association plans more frequently in 2016 than in 2015. Canadians are also increasingly signing contracts for wireless services (instead of pay-as-you-go).
In 2016, Canadians are showing a stronger preference and usage for monthly/post-paid plans over pay-as-you go than in the past. The preference for monthly/post-paid plans suggests Canadians have become more accustomed to signing contracts with wireless providers, which may be due to a better understanding of what the contract entails as well as the promotion of monthly/post-paid plans by wireless providers.
While the number of Canadians who have changed providers in the past two years has remained the same, the reasons for changing providers have changed. The primary reason for changing providers continues to be to get a better deal and has increased quite substantially in 2016. Fewer Canadians are switching due to low satisfaction with the service provider, phone upgrades, expense, network coverage or personal situation.
Among those who have switched providers, the perceived ease of switching continues to be high and has remained the same over the past two years as have the reasons for considering switching difficult.
Understanding of Contracts
While overall perceptions of the clarity of contract language have changed very little, there are many indications that Canadians’ understanding of contracts has improved over the past two years. More specifically, improvements to the understanding of cancellation fees, declines in complaints and declines in bill shock all provide indications that Canadians’ understanding of wireless contracts have improved. It is important to note however, that declines in bill shock and complaints will also occur due to a variety of reasons including the safeguards against overages in the Wireless Code.
Canadians’ perceptions of the clarity of the contract language have remained the same over the past two years. Nearly two-thirds of Canadians find the contracts clear and easy to understand. Canadians’ understanding of early cancellations fees in particular have shown improvement, with Canadians citing better clarity and understanding of cancellation fees over the past two years.
While ratings on clarity of the contract have remained the same, complaints and bill shock have declined. These findings suggest Canadians are more aware of their contractual obligations or the terms and conditions to which they have agreed than they have in the past.
This is further supported by the finding that those who made a complaint were nearly three times more likely to consider their contract unclear or difficult to understand.
Lastly, over the past two years, slightly fewer Canadians have experienced service provider changes to their plans without being made expressly aware. This suggests that wireless providers are complying with the Wireless Code requirement to notify Canadians of changes to their contracts and related documents and that Canadians have become more aware of their contracts which in turn gives them improved understanding.
Complaints
Over the last two years, wireless complaints have fallen. For the second year in a row, Canadians are making fewer complaints suggesting Canadians better understand the wireless contracts and services that they signed up for. The decline in complaints in 2016 is largely driven by reduced complaints by those with a family and/or monthly/post-paid plan. Interestingly, there has been a surge in complaints by those who have pay-as-you-go plans with complaints nearly doubling over 2015.
While Canadians are making fewer complaints, they continue to primarily complain to their wireless service provider and continue to be to be dissatisfied with the resolution of their complaint.
Surprisingly few Canadians (less than one-in-five) are aware of their right to complain to the Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS). Canadians’ who were aware of their right to complain to the CCTS were more likely to be satisfied with the resolution of their complaint compared to those who were not aware.
Overall, wireless complaints reported by Canadians are down. While Canadians with family/shared plans are making fewer complaints than they did last year, they are still making more complaints than Canadians with individual plans, suggesting that those who signed up for a family/shared plan are not fully satisfied with the plan. It also suggests that they did not fully understand the details of the contract or plan that was presented to them.
Data is Becoming More Important to Canadians
Data is becoming increasingly important to Canadians subscribing to wireless services. Indeed, Canadians are increasingly considering data “essential” to their wireless plans while the importance of calling minutes and text messaging has remained the same in 2016. The importance of data is largely being driven by younger Canadians (<55).
Furthermore, Canadians would be most upset by changes to their data plan without notification or consent - including the pricing of their data plan. In 2015, the extent to which Canadians would be upset by changes to their plan without notification was relatively similar regardless of the type of change. However in 2016, data changes without notification are significantly more upsetting than other changes (roaming, contract length, texting, etc.) again, showcasing the increasing importance of data to Canadians.
Strategic Implications
The results of the research provide evidence that over the past two years Canadians’ understanding of their wireless services have improved and Canadians are taking advantage of competitive offers. It also provides information that may inform future processes at the CRTC. More specifically,
A telephone survey was conducted among Canadians age 18 years and older who owned their own cell phone. Random telephone sample was used, of which, 20 per cent was cell phone while the remaining was landline sample. The rationale for including a cell phone only requirement is that approximately one fifth, or 20 per cent, of all Canadian households do not have a landline. This requirement ensures that we captured households with only cell phones. Targeting only landlines would likely have captured a mix of landline only households and households with both cell phones and landlines. The survey was in field from February 3rd to February 18th, 2016. A total of 925 surveys were completed. The sample for this study was a probability sample and as such the findings can be extrapolated to the Canadian population with a margin of error of +/-3.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
The total contract value for this project was $48,523.33 including HST.
I hereby certify as Vice President, Ottawa Regional Office & Public Sector Practice Lead of TNS Canada Ltd. that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, and standings with the electorate or ratings of the performance of apolitical party or its leaders.
David Ang, Vice President, Ottawa Regional Office & Public Sector Practice Lead
TNS Canada Ltd.