TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's largest wireless company, Rogers Communications Inc RCIb.TO, used exclusivity clauses and high rates in the roaming agreements it signed with new wireless entrants to unfairly discriminate against them, the country's telecom regulator said on Thursday.

A Rogers sign is seen at its headquarters following the Rogers Communications Inc annual general meeting for shareholders in Toronto April 22, 2014. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said it would prohibit such provisions, and that a new law has already forced rates to come down.

“Competition in the wireless industry benefits society and the economy by providing innovative communications services at reasonable prices. But that is only the case when true and sustainable competition is at play,” CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in a statement.

The CRTC also said that Rogers charged some new operators much higher roaming rates than it offered for other providers, including U.S.-based providers.

A spokeswoman for Rogers said in an email that the company was surprised and disappointed by the decision, that new carriers were given options on the type of deal they agreed to, and its varying rates take volume into account.

Roaming refers to the practice of a wireless operator’s customers making use of other company’s network when outside the reach of their home carrier’s network.

It can be a one-way agreement in which a smaller operator pays in order to offer broader coverage, or a two-way deal in which similar-sized operators more or less swap access to areas where only one of them has physical infrastructure.

Rogers said U.S. carriers make much more use of its network and also provide the mutual benefit of enabling Rogers customers to stay connected south of the border, justifying better terms.

Small new entrants such as Wind Mobile had to build a network from scratch after buying spectrum in a 2008 auction, and made technical decisions that meant Rogers was the only viable roaming partner.

The CRTC does not currently approve of the wireless roaming rates providers agree between themselves, but will consider doing so when it hold a public hearing on wholesale rates and the broader state of competition in wireless in late September.

The CRTC decided not to impose a penalty on Rogers given a new law that caps wholesale roaming rates and pending the September hearing.