TORONTO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Rogers Communications Inc RCIb.TO will give customers the ability to shut off family members or friends using excessive mobile data in shared data plans, the Canadian communications company said on Thursday.
Guy Laurence said the goal was to give customers greater control over their bills and hopefully reduce the 1.5 million calls the company's call centers receive each year about data usage and pricing.
"If you take away the anxiety, they will use it more," he told reporters, likening the significance of the move to the company's earlier effort to help users manage international roaming costs, which had reduced complaints by 90 percent.
The upgrade to its mobile phone account management app allows for alerts to be set when individuals hit certain levels. The customer can then do nothing, allocate more data from another family member, or buy additional data for that month or upgrade the Share Everything plan.