OTTAWA – Customers of Ice Wireless and its affiliate Sugar Mobile may continue to roam on Rogers’ national mobile network, at least in the short term.
The CRTC has granted Ice Wireless’ request for interim relief while considering its request for final relief by preventing Rogers from prohibiting customers of Ice Wireless or Sugar Mobile from roaming on its mobile network.
A letter from secretary general Danielle May-Cuconato addressed to Ice Wireless president & CEO Samer Bishay and Rogers’ SVP regulatory David Watt said that the Commission has determined that the application, filed in February 2016, has met its interim relief criterion and that it “is of the view that Ice Wireless and Sugar Mobile would very likely incur irreparable harm if interim relief were not granted”.
“Accordingly, Rogers is not permitted to terminate its roaming agreement with Ice Wireless or disconnect either Ice Wireless or Sugar Mobile from its mobile network pending disposition of the request for final relief”, reads the letter. “… (T)here is an on-going broader proceeding to consider the final tariff for Rogers’ wholesale roaming service. In that process, interventions have been filed which address the appropriateness of the roaming arrangements such as those undertaken by Sugar Mobile customers that are the subject of the interim relief application at issue in this case. Given that the Commission will be ruling on a final basis in that proceeding on the nature of the roaming arrangements that are to be mandated, the outcome of that proceeding will have a significant bearing on the disposition of Ice Wireless’ request for final relief. Given this, the Commission expects to rule on Ice Wireless’ request for final relief in light of the broader proceeding to consider the final tariff of Rogers’ mandated wholesale roaming service.”
