OTTAWA – Bell is asking the CRTC to review its May decision that dismissed its complaint that certain Videotron customers were permanently roaming on its wireless network in violation of the parties’ agreement.
The August 19 review and vary request, published Friday, said that the CRTC erred when it dismissed the request to force Videotron to abide by Bell’s wholesale national wireless roaming service tariff – which Bell said dictates that Videotron customers roaming on its network cannot permanently do so on a non-incidental basis.
“The Commission dismissed our application in the face of our un-contradicted evidence, conceded by Videotron, that certain Videotron end-users continue to engage in permanent roaming, just as they had done in an earlier dispute between the parties,” which led to a February 2020 decision preventing Bell from suspending the wholesale roaming agreement with Videotron.
Bell, in arguing its tariff includes a provision that bans permanent roaming, said the CRTC’s decision to dismiss its case is in contradiction to previous precedent saying “market forces are insufficient to protect the interests of users of this service and the continuing direction that we must provide this service pursuant to the Tariff,” Bell’s complaint said, adding the CRTC in a 2017 decision asked providers to come to the regulator when a roaming customer was making improper use of their services.
Bell further alleges that the CRTC, by not getting involved, is facilitating an undue preference and unjust discrimination by allowing Videotron to allegedly violate the tariff terms while subjecting to the same tariff all other providers who have a roaming agreement with Bell.
In its letter decision in May, the CRTC said that it would be a “considerably more efficient use of both the parties’ and the Commission’s resources” that the parties “engage in good-faith negotiations to resolve the dispute, and to avail themselves of staff-assisted mediation if needed.”
In its original complaint, Bell asked that the commission force Videotron to apply Bell’s new permanent roaming test to its customers roaming on its network; stop it from exempting itself from the tariff agreement; provide Bell with “enhanced” monthly roaming reports; and impose monetary penalties against Videotron.
In response to Bell’s complaint, Videotron told the commission that it did not improperly apply its own roaming test on its customers, and that it addressed instances of non-compliance with its own test, which resulted from technical issues and human error.
