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Rogers’ increase also comes after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission updated the wireless code to cap overage fees per account, not per line, and to kill device-unlocking fees later this year in a move that will cost carriers collectively about $38 million annually. The CRTC held a public hearing to discuss the changes in February.

Rogers and Bell didn’t specify why they increased their data overage fees, which only apply to new customers or those who upgrade their plans. But both said the majority of customers don’t incur overage fees due to frequent notifications about data usage and data management tools. Rogers noted it increased the data buckets for its plans to be more in line with usage and specified that only about 10 per cent of its customers each month (about 1 million subscribers) get data overage fees.

Industry players and consumer advocates think the price changes reflect preparation for a deluge of new customers in the fall, a popular time to buy new phones, rather than a reaction to the wireless code updates.

“I don’t think it’s directly related. I would say the wireless code is more symptomatic of a lot of micro management of the wireless industry,” telecom consultant Mark Goldberg said.

Goldberg pointed to the CRTC’s move to kill three-year contracts as an example of indirect price regulation that raised prices by imposing additional constraints on the industry. He thinks higher overage fees, however, are more likely intended to push consumers onto bigger data buckets to reduce their aggravation from much-loathed extra charges.