PIAC says no to permanent roaming test, Telus wants new definition

Telus Corp. wants the CRTC to set an industry-wide definition of “permanent roaming,” especially after its decision to allow MVNO services to be available to some carriers. In May, BCE Inc. asked the CRTC to put in place new measures for Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron after it was ordered in Feb. 2020 to keep providing the company with wholesale roaming. Bell claimed in its May Part 1 application that some Videtron customers continue to permanently roam on its network and that the CRTC should apply a “mandated, non-incidental roaming test” when Videotron uses Bell’s wholesale tariffed roaming service. In its intervention dated June 28, Telus said that it will not take a position on the allegations in the bilateral dispute and only commented on the proposed test for what constitutes non-incidental domestic roaming and remedies that should be available to host networks. “The parameters of the incidental roaming and MVNO service should be clearly defined so that carriers do not abuse the incidental roaming tariff to avoid compliance with the MVNO framework,” Telus wrote, adding that such a definition would require input beyond the scope of the Bell and Quebecor dispute and any definition the CRTC imposes for this dispute should not set a precedent for further disputes. Bell requested in its Part 1 that the CRTC define permanent roaming as a “situation where for six consecutive billing months, an individual Videotron end-user's cumulative voice or data usage when roaming on the Bell network equals or exceeds 50 percent of that end-user's cumulative voice or data usage on the Bell and Videotron networks.” In Telus' view a six month period is too long, and said a three month evaluation period before a host network can take action to prevent abuse of its network “is sufficient and will prevent the harms that are intended to be avoided with the prohibition on permanent roaming.” Telus said once permanent roaming is identified, the host carrier should be permitted to stop the “abuse of its network”. “This means that any data that needs to be provided by the home carrier must be produced without delay. If there is a delay in providing data, flagged users should be deemed to be permanently roaming and should be disconnected from the host network in accordance with the terms of the host network’s tariff,” Telus wrote. Meanwhile, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) said Bell overstepped in its request to apply a new permanent roaming test, according to the organization’s intervention. PIAC stated that the commission's March 2017 decision -- in which it decided Rogers Communications Inc. did not have to provide roaming services to Iristel Inc.’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Sugar Mobile -- has made it clear that the commission had no intentions to impose any rules that would establish specific thresholds to determine acceptable levels of roaming. “Bell has not provided any evidence showing that Videotron intentionally abused its wholesale roaming access according to the commission’s indicators of misuse, such as whether the wholesale customer has deliberately sold or marketed its services that would result in end-users gaining permanent roaming access to the incumbent’s network,” PIAC stated. PIAC added that there are also emergency situations, especially during the global COVID-19 pandemic, where customers may have legitimate reasons to temporarily use permanent roaming outside their home carrier’s network such as work or family emergencies. “In the interest of consumer privacy, PIAC also opposes Bell’s request for continuing and expanded disclosure to Bell of Videotron customers’ data. The commission should therefore deny Bell’s requested relief, which threatens consumer welfare and privacy,” PIAC wrote. PIAC also stated that should the CRTC adopt Bell’s new proposed test, it would reverse the pro-consumer and pro-competition roaming policy it had developed. “The Commission purposely left the specific terms of wholesale roaming tariff agreements to be negotiated between incumbents and wholesale roaming customers, with the expectation that these parties would negotiate agreements and resolve disputes in good faith and not run back to the Commission,” it wrote. "Granting Bell’s relief would bode poorly for not only those competitors relying upon the roaming tariff but would also discourage those that eventually seek to use the upcoming MVNO tariff.” -- Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

PIAC says no to permanent roaming test, Telus wants new definition

News | July 5, 2021

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PIAC says no to permanent roaming test, Telus wants new definition

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