By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Iristel wants the CRTC to get involved in a dispute related to a voice network interconnection agreement that Bell is allegedly threatening to cut off if the north service provider doesn’t pay its dues.
Iristel said in a Part 1 application filed Tuesday that Bell has allegedly violated access services rules by not fulfilling an arrangement in which it allegedly agreed to provide an interconnection point at Kuujjuaq in northern Quebec. Iristel said since 2015, it has reluctantly agreed to an interim agreement in which it would route traffic to Kuujjuaq point through a single exchange in Montreal to expedite a project to provide emergency telephone to public sector organizations in the region in 2016.
Iristel, however, said the agreement has restricted its wholesale voice traffic, which it said makes up 90 per cent of its revenues. And being restricted to that single interim point limits its ability to provide capacity to its affiliate Ice Wireless, which it said is the only provider in most of the exchanges in the region.
Iristel claims that when it asked Bell at a meeting for an update as to how its fulfilling its obligation to provide regular local connection points, the application alleges Bell said it had not intention to modify the interconnection.
“Bell’s actions have delayed the deployment of Iristel’s wireless network in Northern Quebec and caused economic harm to Iristel through loss of customer and roaming revenue,” Iristel said in the application.
The application alleges Bell is violating section 25 (1) of the Telecommunications Act by not providing that interconnection point as designated by the tariff that was filed to and approved by the CRTC.
Iristel is asking the CRTC to stop Bell from disconnecting services because the far north service provider has said it withheld certain payments related to services including local network interconnection as “compensation for damages.”
Bell has retaliated by withholding payments for services Iristel has provided and serving Iristel with a 30-day disconnection notice on September 21 for all services provided by Bell and its affiliates to the far north provider.
“If such a disconnection is carried out, it would have a significant deleterious impact on Canadian consumers,” Iristel said. “Iristel provides service on over 10 million telephone numbers in Canada, and in certain areas is the sole provider of SIP trunks, or mobile wireless services.”
Iristel said it hasn’t served a disconnection notice to Bell because it “does not wish to see its disputes with other providers spill over into consumer disruptions.”
“This is a straightforward commercial issue where Iristel is not paying its bills and owes Bell millions of dollars,” Bell said in a statement to Cartt. “After repeated attempts to receive payment, we have issued Iristel with a notice of disconnection for their services with us, in accordance with the disconnection process prescribed by the CRTC.
“Iristel has initiated a court proceeding against Bell for alleged damages relating to its operations in the Kuujjuaq area and is using these allegations as a justification not to pay Bell for all services provided in Ontario and Quebec, even though we have provided them with these services,” the Bell statement added. “In order to continue receiving service without paying what it owes, Iristel has now raised these same issues with the CRTC and has made a number of other allegations with the CRTC about alleged Bell non-compliance. We believe their allegations are totally unfounded. At this stage, we have no option but to disconnect their services.”
Iristel and Bell subsidiary Northwestel are in front of the Supreme Court of Yukon over another interconnection dispute for Inuvik, Whitehorse and Yellowknife, after Northwestel sued the far north carrier for alleged unpaid bills.
Iristel has noted these disputes, plus another interconnection point in Winnipeg, in its Tuesday application as alleged violations of Section 25 (1) of the Telecommunications Act.
These problems, Iristel alleges, shows a “history of anti-competitive behaviour.”
Photo of Iristel CEO Samer Bishay.
