PIAC and Telus support Bell’s review and vary over wholesale roaming services, Videotron disagrees

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Telus Corp. are calling on the CRTC to accept BCE Inc.’s request for a Part 1 review and vary on a May 22 letter over wholesale roaming services. Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, which Bell is complaining about, unsurprisingly takes the opposite tack. The commission rejected Bell’s complaint and urged the two companies to negotiate a settlement. Bell Mobility filed its application in August. Interventions are now being published on the CRTC website. PIAC and Telus both say they are not concerned with the merits of the case, in which Bell alleges Videotron customers are permanently roaming on the Bell wireless network. Rather, they are upset by the process by which the commission dismissed Bell’s initial complaint. “PIAC feels it is important to address the manner in which the commission has issued its final determination on Bell’s application,” the group wrote. “PIAC submits that a commission staff letter is a wholly inappropriate method for issuing final decisions on applications.” In its brief, Telus stated, “The letter decision did not rule on any of the substantive matters at issue between Bell and Videotron, instead directing the parties to negotiate outstanding matters. Every Part 1 applicant to the CRTC –including Bell in the case of the permanent roaming application– is entitled to an adjudication of all issues in that application on their merits.” The application is without merit, Videotron responds. In a lengthy intervention, the Quebec telecom says the matter had been settled through the commission letter and no further action is warranted. There are no errors of law or fact to sustain a review and vary, it argued. The company accuses Bell of playing games with translation to bolster its case. Bell quotes Michael Ryan’s textbook Canadian Telecommunications and Online Services Law that “to refuse to decide a properly-made application amounts to a declining of jurisdiction.” But Videotron points out that the French verb refuser is translated as “denies” in the English version of the CRTC letter, not as “refuses”. PIAC says using a letter derogates from procedural rules and transparency and that Bell should have been given a full hearing. To that end, it is urging the regulator to accept Bell’s Part 1 application and hold a proper proceeding. Telus agreed. “If Bell alleges that Videotron breached that condition by allowing its customers to permanently roam on Bell’s wireless network, the commission is required to, at a minimum, make a determination on whether a breach took place,” the western telecom wrote. If the commission does not want to keep hearing these disputes, it should adopt an ex ante definition of permanent roaming and incidental roaming that sets when such roaming becomes impermissible. “Under the current scenario, there is no reason for Videotron to negotiate in good faith: it knows that the longer it can delay negotiations, the longer it can continue to offer services to its customers that, according to Bell, violate the tariff,” Telus stated. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca.

PIAC and Telus support Bell’s review and vary over wholesale roaming services, Videotron disagrees

News | October 7, 2022

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PIAC and Telus support Bell’s review and vary over wholesale roaming services, Videotron disagrees

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