Northwestel filed its own lawsuit last month alleging Iristel has not paid for telecom services
By Ahmad Hathout
WHITEHORSE – Iristel has taken Northwestel to the Supreme Court of Yukon over an alleged failure by the Bell subsidiary to provide redundant network connection points in Whitehorse and Yellowknife that it said are required by an agreement the two signed in 2012.
The two companies are bound by a master agreement signed in June 2012 that stipulates that they will share their network infrastructure. In that agreement, Iristel alleges Northwestel agreed to have signaling points of interconnection at addresses in Inuvik, Whitehorse and Yellowknife, serving to aid in the transmission of primarily voice services with a benefit of relieving other data traffic congestion.
But Iristel alleges in the complaint filed Tuesday that Northwestel has failed to provide the redundant traffic point in Whitehorse and Yellowknife after the Bell company changed its signaling network from Telus to Bell, which moved the interconnection point to Toronto.
“At no time did Iristel ever consent, expressly or otherwise, to this transfer, and an agreement to allow for this migration was never reached by the parties, by way of an amendment to the Master Agreement or otherwise,” Iristel alleges in the complaint.
“NW Tel’s refusal to provide Iristel with a local signaling point of interconnection in Whitehorse, YT contravened, among other things, the Local Network Tariff and the Master Agreement,” it added.
Iristel said it signed in December 2020 a telecom services deal with the Yukon government, which was previously serviced by Northwestel’s voice services.
At this time, according to the complaint, the Yukon government expressed concern about the “local survivability” of the services, a term used to describe the network’s ability to continue running in the event of a failure of the main traffic routing points.
Specifically, the government was looking for a backup traffic point in the capital, Whitehorse, Iristel said.
“Despite demand by lristel, and in breach of the Local Network Tariff and the Master Agreement, NW Tel deliberately, or in the alternative, recklessly, failed to provide Iristel with a local signaling point of interconnection in order to, among other things, unlawfully interfere with and undermine Iristel’s contractual rights and obligations with the Yukon Government and to achieve a competitive advantage,” Iristel alleges.
Iristel alleges because of this lack of redundancy along the traffic route, the Yukon government has delayed moving the telephone numbers from Northwestel to Iristel’s network.
This series of events has resulted in, Iristel argues, lost revenue, increased expense, loss of reputation and Iristel being at risk of breaching its contractual obligations under the Yukon Agreement.
“As a result of NW Tel’s actions, Iristel was unable to promote and provide a local signaling point of interconnection in the Yukon as part of its offering,” the complaint said. “This reduced lristel’s ability to generate more revenue and income in the Yukon.”
Northwestel first informed Iristel that it was moving the connection point to Toronto in late 2019, according to the complaint. Since then, Iristel said it has been requesting a redundancy point in Whitehorse.
The complaint alleges Northwestel offered an alternative point of connection, which is part of its “Wholesale Connect Product.” Iristel made “repeated requests” in 2022 to test the product’s re-routing capabilities, but Northwestel did not allow it and later admitted that the product couldn’t perform what it promised, Iristel alleges.
Finally, Northwestel told Iristel it would need to find another connection point in British Columbia for an additional fee, alleges the complaint.
Northwestel says Iristel hasn’t been paying for certain interconnection services
Iristel’s complaint comes after Northwestel filed its own suit in the same court last month, alleging Iristel owes the north’s dominant carrier “at least” $666,000 for certain services emanating from agreements to exchange telecommunications traffic. Those agreements include the master agreement as well as satellite services. Northwestel is also seeking damages.
“In breach of the Agreements and the Tariffs, Iristel has refused or alternatively failed to pay and is indebted to Northwestel in the Outstanding Amount,” the Northwestel complaint said. “Northwestel has suffered harm, loss and damage as a result.”
Iristel said in its own complaint that it disputed amounts owing to Northwestel on the basis that it had claimed a 50 per cent credit on invoices for services in the Yukon and Northwest Territories until Iristel was provided with the traffic redundancy points in question. Northwestel warned the company it would cut off services if it didn’t pay, Iristel said.
Iristel’s complaint alleges Northwestel breached a confidentiality agreement by informing the Yukon government that its new services contractor was facing disconnection because of the alleged unpaid invoices, thus allegedly causing Iristel harm to its bottom line and to its reputation.
“This claim was only filed after court action in June against Iristel related to significant unpaid invoices,” a Northwestel rep told Cartt about Iristel’s filing this month. “As these matters are before the courts, we won’t comment further at this time.”
