Consumer group collecting cellphone company complaints

A consumer group worried that a bureaucratic hurdle could stop people from giving feedback about a code of conduct for cellphone companies is compiling complaints from Canadians.

Open Media, a watchdog group that fights to keep internet access cheap, says it wants to make it easier for consumers to tell their stories about battles with cellphone companies. The group has launched a website, cellphonehorrorstory.ca, to collect complaints about what they say is a "broken cellphone market."

The CRTC, Canada's telecommunications regulator, is calling for comments as it draws up a mandatory code of conduct for the industry.

The regulator is notoriously technical, which can be overwhelming for people who want to comment. The notice for how to send comments on the wireless code of conduct, for example, is 13 pages long.

The CRTC is asking for "detailed comments, with supporting rationale, on the contents of the code, to whom the code should apply, how the code should be enforced and promoted, and how the code’s effectiveness should be assessed and reviewed," it said in the announcement of the consultation process. Comments are due by Nov. 20, 2012.

Bell, Rogers and Telus — known as the Big Three — control 94 per cent of the market in Canada, a news release from Open Media says.

Open Media has previously launched campaigns against electronic surveillance laws and against proposed trade deals that they fear would apply new laws or fees to internet use.