12 Billion Class Action to proceed against Canadian Carriers over System Access Fees

The fee went to the government when they got the CLR 850 spectrum for free. by the time there was a Fido and Clearnet, they had to bid and pay for PCS 1900 spectrum up front. Even before this the government had stopped collecting the fees.

Originally Posted by jattdesi

Actually it wasn't $4.50 a month, it was $4 a month or $48 once a year from what I remember. At first you had no choice you had to pay $48 once a year, and when clearNET, Fido/Microcell came around mid nineties then they gave us an option to pay $48 once a year or $4 monthly. Now from what I recall when it was $4 a month or $48 a year it indeed did go to the government. I could be wrong but around 93 to 95 the fee of $4 a month or $48 a year had disappeared (don't know the reason why it disappeared), & immediately it became a system access of $6.95 ($8.95 at Bell) which went to the cell carrier so people just assumed that it went up from $4 to $6.95. Which of course was not true. I know my $amounts are correct but I could be wrong if the $4 or $48 went to the Government or not. I have had cell phone in my family since mid eighties so I know for a fact those were the fees we we paid.

Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note LTE running on Bell's HSPA+/LTE Network

I was a Clearnet customer at the time. Here is another person who recalled that it was $4.50 / month, so it's not just me having this memory. It would be a strange coincidence if both of us recalled the exact same amount though.

http://forums.fido.ca/t5/forums/foru...id/2641/page/1

See the 2nd last post from ren596. He was comparing SAF between the companies.
BTW I was only referring to Clearnet. I wasn't talking about other providers. Most other providers were charging $48. a year, but Clearnet gave customers a choice.

But it would be strange if anyone would choose $48. a year if it can be $4. a month as there is no incentive at all.

I remember when I was with Bell, they did give me the option to pay yearly or monthly for the SAF. I remember picking monthly due to time value of money.