By Ahmad Hathout
Iristel is claiming that the CRTC made a mistake by not committing to investigating whether Bell contravened its tariff by allegedly refusing to add a point of presence in northern Quebec that would have allowed the far north service provider to move more call traffic.
The CRTC last month ordered Iristel to pay overdue bills to Bell and its subsidiary Northwestel – which is in the midst of being acquired by an indigenous consortium – after it found Iristel was not in the right to withhold funds on what it perceived to be a violation of the tariff. The tariff allegedly stipulated that Bell was to provide an interconnection point at Kuujjuaq in northern Quebec. Iristel said it has had to reluctantly accept a temporary route for its traffic on the expectation that the telco would make that point available.
Nearly 10 years since that agreement, Iristel alleges Bell had and has no intention of doing so, and filed a complaint to the regulator that acknowledged it held amounts owed to the large telco because of that perceived violation. But the CRTC disagreed on the basis that Iristel didn’t show enough evidence of alleged wrongdoing, ordering Iristel to pay the amounts it withheld.
Now, Iristel is alleging in a review and vary application made public Wednesday that the CRTC erred by improperly overlooking alleged violations of the law and not ordering an investigation because the two parties could come to a commercial agreement on the terms.
The gist of Wednesday’s application is that, had the CRTC did an investigation via a request for information (RFI), it would have allegedly discovered that Iristel had made “repeated requests to obtain tariffed servies from Bell Canada in Kuujjuaq” but was refused.
As such, it is asking the regulator to order the requisite RFIs for Bell to provide statements from specific Bell Canada and Northwestel employees, including past employees, that participated in meetings between the parties about their recollection of these meetings, where the alleged refusals to set up interconnection points at Kuujjuaq and Whitehorse were made. (Iristel said Northwestel only complied with the interconnection point in Whitehorse and Yellowknife in July 2023, nearly four years after the Bell subsidiary said it would relocate the point.)
Iristel’s original application asks the CRTC to appoint an investigator to look at the alleged wrongdoing, but the regulator denied that.
Now, it’s asking again for the regulator to appoint an inquiry officer “to investigate the extend of tariff violations by Bell Canada and Northwestel,” which should include taking oral evidence under oath from those employees it outlined in the proposed RFI requests.
Iristel includes in its application additional redacted evidence about the alleged violations, including emails showing Iristel’s persistence to get moving on the interconnection points.
“Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the Commission should consider whether [administrative monetary penalties] should be imposed on Bell Canada and Northwestel to deter future non-compliance with their tariffs, the Telecommunications Act, and Commission determinations,” Iristel added.
Photo via Iristel
