Telus Sort Of Dumps The System Access Fee

One of the most annoying things about subscribing to contract post-paid cell phone service is paying the System Access Fee that $6.95 a month that does nothing more than fatten the profit margins of the cell phone industry.  In anticipation of new competition coming just weeks from now, Vancouver based Telus Mobility is dropping the system access fee and the 911 fee.  Dumping the fees started last year when Telus' discount brand Koodo Mobile launched without the fees and Rogers' owned Fido dropped the fees.  This move follows Rogers' dropping the fees from their main branded service back in September.  That leaves Bell Mobility as the only national carrier and regional carriers MTS and SaskTel as the only cell phone service providers that still charge the fees.

Consumers hoping to bag big savings are going to be let down, when the fees come off the prices charged for cell phone plans will rise five dollars a month.  Average savings will only be about two to three dollars a month.  The savings won't be automatic, new subscribers will be put on the new plans without the fees.  Existing subscribers will get to switch to a new plan without the fees when their current contracts expire.  It's encouraging to see cell carriers ending this bait and switch practice of offering plans for one price and then tacking on fees that raise the total cost of the service by twenty percent or more.  If one of the effects of the upcoming competition is honesty in cell phone plan pricing, then imagine what it will be like when the new guys get their services off the ground and really giving the big guys a real run for their money.