Télébec restructuring its residential customer service charges

BCE Inc. subsidiary Télébec is asking the CRTC for permission to restructure its residential customer service charges to align with the way Bell bills its residential customers in its service territory in Quebec and to be exempted from the price floor test. “While residents of Quebec's largest cities have access to internet services offering download speeds of several gigabits per second, in particular via Bell Canada's fiber optic internet service, Télébec does not offer any residential service by optical fiber in its traditional service areas,” the subsidiary wrote in its French-language Part 1 application dated Feb. 24. “To remedy this situation, our plan is for Bell Canada to roll out fiber optics at Télébec. Thus, Télébec's residential customers will have access to the same service as what is currently offered in Canada's largest urban centers by Bell Canada, under similar conditions.” Télébec said it is aiming to be able to offer the same rate as Bell for the residential service connection. The company said the $81 connection charge including a home visit, and the $52.75 connection charge excluding a visit will be replaced by a single service connection charge of $49.95. Télébec added that its line connection charge will no longer be required and it will keep the file processing fee but its use will be limited to the same uses as Bell’s order processing fee. “This will benefit consumers and our customer service agents and our service fees will become easier to explain and understand. Another benefit for consumers is that not only will customers requesting fibre-to-the-home service be able to get the new service at a lower cost, but so will customers who simply want to get a new phone line on the copper network,” Télébec wrote. In regard to residential telephone number reservations, Télébec customers will also pay less, it argued. Currently, to reserve a phone number, its customers must pay $10 per month, then $35 to reactivate the number, and finally the $52.75 connection fee for a minimum total of $97.75. Bell, by contrast, offers the same service for $88.45, which includes a number reservation service charge of $38.50 and a residential service connection charge of $49.95. “Thanks to the harmonization of these fees between the two companies, Bell Canada will be able to more quickly and more efficiently extend its current fibre-to-the-home network service offer to our territory, thanks to simplified marketing,” Télébec wrote.

Télébec restructuring its residential customer service charges

Brief | March 6, 2023

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Télébec restructuring its residential customer service charges

Brief | March 6, 2023

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