CRTC approves changes to Bell’s wireless roaming tariff
Key points
- The CRTC, Canada's telecom regulator, approved changes to Bell Mobility's national wireless roaming tariff on Thursday. They take effect right away.
- The tariff sets out how regional carriers can roam on Bell's network when their customers leave home coverage.
- The update adds negotiation and arbitration clauses, defines new terms and clarifies the section on rates. Bell proposed no rate changes, so no new prices are set.
- Carriers that buy roaming and MVNO access together get a two-year renegotiation window. Bell had proposed three years but agreed to two after a request from Cogeco.
- Bell has 10 calendar days to issue its revised tariff pages.
Bell filed this application on October 20, 2025. It brings the tariff in line with two earlier CRTC decisions. In October 2024, the regulator told Bell, Rogers and Telus to renegotiate roaming rates with smaller carriers instead of relying on fixed rates from 2018. It said those rates “may no longer be just and reasonable”, noting the big three charged an average of $13.78 per GB at wholesale while their own customers paid an average of $7.21 per GB in 2022.
Under that framework, carriers have 60 days to reach a deal. If they cannot, the CRTC picks one side’s proposed rate through final offer arbitration. In September 2025, the CRTC also ordered Bell and Telus to open their full shared network to rivals that sign a roaming deal. The CRTC said letting carriers bundle roaming and MVNO access in one agreement will improve competition and cut their administrative costs.
The change mainly affects regional carriers such as Videotron, Freedom Mobile, Eastlink and SaskTel, by giving them more room to negotiate. Any savings depend on the deals carriers strike next and whether they pass them on to customers, so bills are not expected to change right away.
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