CRTC drops equal access requirement - choice of LD company GONE on Fido???
In late 2011, the CRTC heard applications from wireless providers who want to become Type II Competative Local exchange Carriers (CLECs). Type II CLECs are essentially the same as a LEC like Bell Canada, except that they're wireless.
The applications were for a loosening up of standards around becoming CLECs. One of the requirements the CRTC introduced in local wireline service a long while back in the 90s, was competetive long distance - I.e. choose your own provider for LD. As cell phones became popular, the same requirement (its called "equal access") was grandfathered into the Type II CLEC requirements. Equal access essentially means you can dial your LD calls normally 1+area code, and they get billed through your LD company of choice on a separate bill.
Fido is the only mobile carrier in Canada who currently operates CLECs. As a result of this, equal access long distance has been available on Fido thru two companies for some time. Yak Communications and Buzz Telecom.
Essentially in the CRTC hearing, the wireless providers said the requirements to keep equal access were too expensive and used by very few. They said that new VOIP services and flat rate plans with mobile carriers, make equal access less important.
On January 19, 2012, The CRTC decided to grant the applicants their wish and equal access is no longer a requirement for carriers who are Type II CLECs.
Does anyone know how I can find out what this will mean, if anything, for Fido's equal access provisions? Now that they don't have to offer it, will they continue to?
Yes Fido continues to offer it.
Will that change in the future? It might. As could anything else about your Fido services.
Look on your bill for warnings about big changes like this.
I was singed up for Yaks program that allowed me to direct dial LD calls from my cell. I thought it would be great. It worked well for the first few months, until I started getting billed for the calls from Yak and Fido! Then I got into the blame game. Finally Fido relented and credited the amount charged to my account. However I had to call Fido every month. In the end it turned out to be a headache and I cancelled the service and went with the Yak call back service!
The feature seemed more trouble than it was worth.
I had the same problem! I was getting credited automatically by Fido every month, so I no longer had to call in.
It has since, for About 2-3 years now, been fixed.
Just this week, I am having a new problem. Sometimes when i Dial a 011 number on my iPhone I get "call failed" all the time. North American "1+area code" numbers work fine.
Even an "on and off" of my iPhone and a network reset wasn't fixing the international dialling problem.
So, for sh's and giggles, I popped my microsim into an old nokia, and I was able to dial 011 fine. Mexico, UK, ect. Then, when I pop the SIM back into the iPhone, the calls go thru! Everything is fixed!
So it seems putting the SIM into another phone, dialling, and then dialling again on my iPhone, is the only fix for the problem when it occurs on my iPhone
Can anyone comment on what this might be? There must be something wrong with the way the iphone communicates with the network when it sends the 011 and the number. Very annoying.
Of course - if i use the "+" in front of a LD number, it works - but it goes thru rogers network, not YAK. And that's pointless.
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Originally Posted by cmstlist
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