Tag: long distance

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Mobile Syrup

Several Canadian carriers waive calling, SMS charges to Turkey, Syria

Following the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6th, 2023, several Canadian carriers announced plans to temporarily waive long-distance calls and SMS fees to both countries.

Rogers

The @RogersHelps Twitter account said that Rogers would waive long-distance calls and SMS for Rogers, Fido and Chatr customers to both Turkey and Syria until February 28th, 2023.

Telus

Vancouver-based Telus said in a tweet that it would waive “all long-distance and roaming charges, including calls and texts to and from Turkey and Syria.” The carrier also noted that customers could text ‘DONATE’ to 41010 to give $20 to the Telus Friendly Future Foundation in support of earthquake relief in Turkey and Syria.

Vidéotron

Vidéotron will also waive call charges to both Turkey and Syria until February 28th.

 

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Mobile Syrup

Telus, Koodo extend suspension of long-distance fees for calls to Ukraine

Telus and its flanker brand Koodo both announced via Twitter that they would extend waiving long-distance charges for calls and texts made from Canada to Ukraine.

The extension will run until May 31st, 2022, according to the tweets. Both statements note the providers are extending support “to keep you connected with your friends and family in Ukraine.”

Several Canadian carriers and providers announced suspensions of long-distance and texting charges for Canadians contacting Ukraine back in February. Several said they would waive charges until mid- or late-March, so this likely marks the beginning of extension announcements from carriers.

Earlier in March, Telus announced it would donate $2 million through the Telus Friendly Future Foundation to Canadian charities assisting families impacted by the conflict.

Additionally, Telus’ tweet links to a webpage detailing the company’s various support efforts for Ukraine. You can find that page here.

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Mobile Syrup

Bell to increase data overage rates by $3, long-distance rates by $0.10

Bell is reportedly increasing data overage rates and long-distance calling rates for its mobile wireless services starting November 2021.

According to a screenshot posted on Twitter by TekSavvy vice-president of insight and engagement — and Bell competitor, it should be noted — Peter Nowak, data overage rates for some Bell Mobility customers are jumping by $3, from $10 per 100MB (for up to 800MB) to $13 per 100MB .

After 800MB, the data overage rate appears to remain unchanged at $0.15 per MB.

This means that the overage rate charge for one gigabyte of data would increase from roughly $110 per GB to $134 per GB.

Additionally, long-distance calling rates both within Canada and to the United States are supposedly going up by $0.10, from $0.65 per minute to $0.75 per minute.

As previous reporting from MobileSyrup points out, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) Wireless Code has a rule that “a service provider must suspend data overage charges once they reach $50 within a single monthly billing cycle.”

However, the rule itself appears rather toothless, as the Code also states that this suspension is waived if the “account holder or authorized user expressly consents to pay additional charges,” which seems to imply that the $50 limit ceases to apply to customers once they’ve signed up for a wireless plan with specific overcharge fees listed in the fine print.

According to reporting from MobileSyrup, Bell has steadily increased its data overage rates in the last five years.

In 2016, the data overage rate was $0.06 per megabyte; in 2017, it was $0.07; in 2018, the rate jumped from $0.07 to $0.10; and in 2019, it rose again $0.12.

MobileSyrup has reached out to Bell to confirm whether these rate changes are accurate, and will update this story accordingly when the carrier responds.

Source: @PeterNowak