By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has ordered Iristel to pay amounts it owes Bell and its subsidiary Northwestel after finding the far north provider failed to show sufficient evidence that it was wronged in an interconnection dispute.
Iristel, which admitted to withholding amounts due because of perceived wrongdoing, alleged in a Part 1 application last October that Bell has failed and had no intention to add an interconnection point at Kuujjuaq in northern Quebec for Iristel to carry its call traffic in the region. In the interim, the telecoms voluntarily agreed since 2015 to have the traffic routed to another exchange, but Iristel said the move and the lack of the promised Kuujjuaq point has reduced its capacity to carry said traffic, which makes up 90 per cent of its revenues.
Iristel asked the CRTC to appoint an investigator to look into alleged wrongdoing on the part of Bell and to force it and Northwestel to withdraw their notices of disconnection becuase of unpaid dues. In the meantime, Bell and Northwestel had agreed to halt the suspension of Iristel’s services until the CRTC could come to a determination on the issue, which is also in front of the courts.
But the CRTC said in a decision on the application Thursday that Iristel hasn’t proven its claims.
“With regard to Iristel’s allegation that Bell Canada had no plans to modify the POI, Iristel did not provide any evidence of this or that it requested to be provided services under Bell Canada and Northwestel’s tariffs, that such a request was denied by Bell Canada or Northwestel, or that there was an attempt to approach the Commission with respect to the disputes before the current application was filed,” the CRTC said.
“Furthermore, the facts that (i) the off-tariff agreements have been in place since 2015, including two renewals of the original agreement; and (ii) Iristel came to the Commission eight years later with this issue, do not suggest that that the POI was a significant issue for Iristel,” the CRTC added.
The regulator also noted that Bell attempted good faith efforts to accommodate Iristel, including by combining two interconnection regions to provide better access to Kuujjuaq.
“Bell Canada and Northwestel’s actions following the non-payment of invoices were consistent with their Commission-approved tariffs,” the regulator said. “Clauses in these tariffs allow for termination of service under specific conditions, including risk of loss created by non-payment of accounts that are more than 60 days past due, with the provision of a 30-day notice. Therefore, Bell Canada and Northwestel’s actions do not appear to constitute unjust discrimination against Iristel.”
As a result, the CRTC said it will not appoint an investigator or force Bell and Northwestel to withdraw its notices of disconnection. However, it noted that if they do proceed with such notices, that sufficient notice is given to Iristel and others for that purpose so they can warn their own customers.
