The system access fee is a non-governmental surcharge imposed by most Canadian telephone companies on their customers' monthly bills. Although it is normally charged for wireless services,

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...

and the now-defunct Sprint Canada also charged its home phone customers a system access fee. Price for the system access fee varies by carrier and date it was applied with Bell charging between

Can$ The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style ...

8.95 and $6.95. Rogers normally amounts to $6.95/month (the System Access Fee on Rogers Home Phone Services was $5.95/month, but has since been merged to the base price). For example, if a wireless plan has been advertised at $20/month, the customer subscribing to it would actually be paying an unadvertised rate of at least $26.95/month, excluding other fees and government taxes.

Government Regulatory Recovery Fee

Since October 5, 2009,

Rogers Wireless Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian wireless telephone company headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of just under $15.1 billi ...

has increased the base cost of all of its monthly plans by $5, and they also replaced their former System Access Fee with a Government Regulatory Recovery Fee (GRRF). This fee currently ranges from $1.93 to $3.35, depending on the wireless service selected. In theory, Rogers is simply renaming its System Access Fee. Rogers notes in its fine print that the GRRF "is not a tax or charge the government requires Rogers to collect."THE GOVERNMENT REGULATORY RECOVERY FEE
/ref> In a press release issued by

Virgin Mobile Canada Virgin Plus is a provider of postpaid and prepaid wireless voice, text and data communications services throughout Canada. They also offer home Internet and TV services in select areas of Ontario and Quebec. Launched as Virgin Mobile Canada o ...

(at the time a joint venture between Rogers' chief competitor

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in ...

and the

Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding co ...

), Virgin Group chairman

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

, criticized Rogers' Government Regulatory Recovery Fee. On July 4, 2012, Rogers Wireless "tucked in" the GRRF into the price for their monthly plans. The charge is no longer listed separately.

Bell Mobility Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstream networks. Bell Mobility is the third-largest ...

's monthly plans are similar to Rogers', so a $2 increase can be found on those plans if client does not subscribe to online billing.

Criticism

The Canadian Government has required Canadian cellular carriers to make it clear that the SAF is not required for any regulatory or government purpose. As a result, the carriers claim that the system access fee covers network operation and maintenance costs. Some critics have argued that the SAF results in much

price gouging Price gouging is a pejorative term used to describe the situation when a seller increases the prices of goods, services, or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair. Usually, this event occurs after a demand or ...

and should simply be added to the advertised monthly fee instead of being a separate entity and that network upgrades and infrastructure maintenance are simply the costs of doing business. Thus, the monthly plan price point should already reflect that.

Class action lawsuit

In 2006 a class action lawsuit was brought against the major carriers with respect to the System Access Fee. After an initial rejection, it was certified as class action on 7 September 2007 by the

Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan (SKCA) is a Canadian appellate court. Jurisdiction and structure The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal is the highest court in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. There are 8 official judicial positions, incl ...

. Lawsuits in other provinces, such as

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

are also pending.Cellular Class Action
/ref> The

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

released a ruling on 28 June 2012 that it would not

hear Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds through an organ, such as an ear, by detecting vibrations as periodic changes in the pressure of a surrounding medium. The academic field concerned with hearing is auditor ...

an appeal of the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan decision by the telecommunications companies.

References

{{Canadian mobile phone companies Telecommunications in Canada