Industry Minister Jim Prentice has summoned Bell Mobility and TELUS to Ottawa to explain what he calls their “poorly thought out decision” to charge customers for incoming text messages, reports ITBusiness.ca.

“Prentice has sent letters to the CEOs of Bell and Telus asking to meet before Aug. 8 to hear an explanation of the pricing structure, according to a statement on Industry Canada’s Web site.

“I believe this was a poorly thought out decision,” Prentice says.

The decision has also “raised serious consumer concerns, particularly with regard to charges for unsolicited, unwanted, spam text messages.”

The two Canadian wireless telecom providers revealed to customers, in June invoices, that they will be charged 15 cents for every text message they receive – a service that had previously been free.”

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