Telus wants Iristel to file new rates in traffic stimulation case

Telus Corp. has told the CRTC that it doesn't think Iristel Inc. deserves a stay on implementing new tariff rates while the CRTC assesses Iristel's argument that the regulator wrongly determined it was stimulating traffic to the 867 area code. In an intervention submitted to the CRTC on Sept. 21, Telus argued that Iristel's request for a stay shouldn’t be granted because the rates are only interim, meaning that any harm done by the rates can be undone. "Through this process, depending on what the final rate is, Iristel can recover any underpayments or, alternatively, any wholesale customers can recover any overpayments. No parties will have suffered harm," Telus argued. In August, the CRTC found that both Iristel and Telus had “acted in a way that was self-serving” and violated the Telecommunications Act in a long-running dispute over calls to the 867 area code, and ordered Iristel to retroactively file new tariff rates for long distance call termination rates. It said the company had granted itself an undue advantage by allowing the use of 867 numbers by “certain customers based in distant locations.” Doing so increased the connection costs for other carriers and caused economic harm, while “generating revenue for itself through the resulting long distance call termination charges,” the CRTC said in its decision. The CRTC set Iristel’s new long distance termination rate – set to apply retroactively from Nov. 23, 2018 – at $0.0098125 cents per minute, a 74 per cent reduction from the interim rate of $0.038 cents per minute. It will be made final on Nov. 16 unless Iristel submits a tariff notice supported by a case study. But in its review-and-vary application, Iristel said the CRTC was wrong to find Iristel’s tariffed Interexchange Service Provider rate provided the company with an incentive to stimulate traffic. Iristel has also filed for a stay of the new rates imposition, as well as a proposed $1.25 million fine on both Iristel and Telus. Telus's intervention does not address the fines. In its own intervention, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre argued that the CRTC should not force Iristel to undertake a cost study while the company's review and vary application on the rates is still being considered. "To PIAC, in these circumstances, it makes no sense to require Iristel to undertake the major expense of a cost study and tariff filing until the validity of the underlying decision is confirmed," PIAC wrote. Telus argued that the costs of Iristel having to do a cost study for the new tariffs do not constitute irreparable harm. "These costs are not unquantifiable, but rather are the cost of doing business, particularly for a wholesale service provider," Telus said in its intervention. In 2017, the CRTC ordered Iristel to stop using the 867 area code to connect callers to a Toronto-area radio stream, but a 2018 Part 1 application by Telus alleged that Iristel was engaged in the practice once more.

Telus wants Iristel to file new rates in traffic stimulation case

Brief | September 23, 2020

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Telus wants Iristel to file new rates in traffic stimulation case

Brief | September 23, 2020

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