By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Quebec’s Superior Court denied last week an application by Videotron to pause a lawsuit that alleges it has not paid dues owed to Bell for connecting to its transport networking facilities.
Bell brought the lawsuit to the court in December, alleging Videotron has failed to pay $1.3 million for interconnecting to Bell’s traffic transport points. Videotron brought a complaint to the CRTC two months later claiming Bell is violating the Telecommunications Act by forcing it to accept a long-term contract or higher monthly prices in areas it says is dominated by Bell, which charged that Videotron has not been paying certain connection fees.
Videotron, which asked the CRTC to freeze Bell’s rates until it makes a decision in its wholesale internet review, had asked the Quebec court to stay Bell’s lawsuit to allow the CRTC to make a determination in its case. If not, Videotron said the court would risk conflicts.
But in a decision last Tuesday, the court said the legal proceedings don’t conflict with the CRTC’s parallel case.
“The object, nature and purpose of these requests are distinct, even if the underlying facts are the same,” the court ruled. “At this stage of the proceedings before the CRTC, it is far from certain that the CRTC will rule favorably on the issues raised by Videotron.”
The court further noted that the CRTC does not have the jurisdiction to award damages and that the regulator does not regulate those transport rates in question.
And even if the CRTC makes a determination in favour of Videotron through its own process, those determinations are not likely to be retroactive, the court added, noting costs claimed by Bell are for services that have already been provided.
“The Court considers that there is no risk of contradictory judgments between the present proceeding and the application before the CRTC,” the decision said.
Videotron said in its application that the court would benefit from the CRTC’s decision as to the legality of Bell’s rate increases.
“With respect, the Court considers that, in the event that the CRTC rules in Videotron’s favour, the Superior Court will not be bound by the CRTC’s conclusions,” the court said. “It will be a piece of evidence that Videotron will be free to file as part of its Defense and Counterclaim.”
