Iristel, Bell still in dispute over repayments, disconnections

Iristel Inc. is fighting with BCE Inc. over a notice of disconnection of telecommunications services it got from the incumbent despite a payment plan the smaller player has proposed. According to an application filed to the CRTC by Iristel on Feb. 28 and made public March 6, Bell sent it a notice saying its services would be disconnected on March 3. A Bell spokesperson told The Wire Report that the services were not disconnected on March 3, but did not immediately provide more details. Iristel did not respond to requests for comment. The CRTC told Iristel in June 2024 to either pay an overdue balance to Bell and its Northwestel subsidiary, or negotiate payment plans to avoid being disconnected. In its new application, Iristel says it has been “diligently negotiating in good faith” with Bell since that decision was released, with both sides allegedly entering into a series of payment plans while they worked on the matter–plans which Iristel alleges have since soured. While Iristel is still making the payments it proposed under the plan, it says, Bell is allegedly “being unreasonable in threatening” to disconnect the services. The company cites a line in Bell Canada’s general tariff document that states Bell cannot suspend or terminate service when a customer is prepared to “enter into and honour” a “reasonable” deferred payment agreement. Iristel says the two companies entered the deferred payment plan in October and went into negotiations on how much money is owed “by each party to the other” and to settle “the various disputes between the parties.” “Unfortunately, these efforts have not yet been successful. In particular, Bell Canada has not substantively engaged in efforts to achieve a reconciliation between the parties’ accounting records,” Iristel alleges in its most recent application. As the October payment plan’s Feb. 21 expiration date came closer, Bell allegedly sent Iristel the March 3 disconnection notice in question. Iristel says it then proposed and looked to negotiate a new deferred payment plan that would “allow the parties to continue negotiations to settle their differences.” “By Bell Canada’s own calculations, the outstanding balance claimed by Bell Canada would be eliminated by the conclusion of the Iristel payment plan,” Iristel states. However, Bell has refused to accept the plan, Iristel alleges, and has instead proposed an “unreasonable” plan. The specifics of that plan included in Iristel’s application were redacted. Iristel says it is paying Bell a redacted sum of money “as a sign of good-faith.” “Iristel trusts that Bell Canada will find this sufficiently satisfactory not to engage in an unjustified disconnection of Iristel’s services but, given Bell Canada’s refusal to accept the Iristel payment plan, we are compelled to file the present application,” Iristel states. Bell spokesperson Jacqueline Michelis told The Wire Report in an email Friday, March 7 that Bell has “given Iristel the opportunity to pay its bills or enter into a payment plan to avoid disconnection. “We have met and continue to meet our regulatory obligations regarding disconnection,” Michelis said, adding that the June 2024 decision from the CRTC “stated that Iristel should pay its bills to avoid disconnection,” and that “Bell has complied with the CRTC decision.” According to Iristel, Bell is breaching its tariff and the Telecommunications Act by refusing to accept the payment plan and demanding that Iristel pay late payment charges. Iristel also claims Bell is not excluding from the disconnection some services that have no amounts owed on them, including shared cost interconnection facilities. Iristel also cites another portion of Bell’s general tariff, stating that a charge disputed by a customer cannot be treated as past due unless Bell has reason to believe the purpose of the charge dispute is to avoid or delay paying it. “Iristel has been disputing the charges issued by Bell Canada on the basis that Bell Canada has committed several ongoing violations of its tariff for local network interconnection. This is a valid dispute that is the subject of ongoing litigation between Bell Canada and Iristel and an application before the commission. Iristel emphasizes that it is suffering ongoing losses because of Bell Canada’s continuing violations of its tariffs,” Iristel said. READ MORE: — Bell, Northwestel tell CRTC to leave billing dispute with Iristel in hands of the court — Iristel asks CRTC to penalize Northwestel for disconnection in billing dispute Iristel seeking interim relief from the CRTC In the interim, while the CRTC works on coming to a decision, Iristel wants Bell to be directed to withdraw the notice stating telecommunications services would be disconnected on March 3. It also wants Bell to be blocked from sending a new disconnection notice until the CRTC makes a decision on the relief Iristel ultimately wants from its application and for Bell to be ordered to accept the proposed payment plan. “While Iristel will not go out of business if its interim relief is not granted it will suffer irreversible damage to its business reputation if Bell Canada’s customers are unable to reach the 15 million Iristel numbers currently in service in Canada, which is what will happen if Bell Canada disconnects the telecommunications services it supplies to Iristel,” Iristel’s application states. “Iristel will also permanently lose market share as most of its business consists of providing services to wholesale customers, many of whom will not obtain services from Iristel if Bell Canada’s customers are unable to connect to Iristel’s numbers.” Ultimately, following interim relief, the company is asking that Bell be barred from disconnecting the services at all, “because Iristel is willing to enter and honour a reasonable deferred payment agreement.” It also wants the CRTC to find that Bell Canada is not allowed to disconnect any telecom services for which no amounts are owing, including shared-cost interconnection facilities, and that Bell cannot charge Iristel for late payments. In August, Iristel asked the CRTC to penalize Bell’s Northwestel for disconnecting all of the voice telecommunications services it gets from the northern incumbent for nearly 24 hours as part of a billing spat between the two companies. Iristel alleged last summer that Northwestel demanded it sign a deferred payment agreement to stop it from disconnecting Iristel’s service, but then cut it anyway after receiving Iristel’s signed copy. On March 4, it asked both Iristel and Northwestel for more information on that dispute. The commission notes that Northwestel said in a September 2024 filing that it had disconnected all services associated with accounts that were more than 60 days in arrears, “notwithstanding if certain services contained in those accounts were in good standing.” Bell is in the process of selling Northwestel to Sixty North Unity, a consortium of Indigenous investors, for almost $1 billion. An announcement on any finalization of the deal has yet to be made. hdaley@thewirereport.ca

Iristel, Bell still in dispute over repayments, disconnections

Regulatory |
By Hannah Daley
| March 7, 2025

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Iristel, Bell still in dispute over repayments, disconnections

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