By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – AFX Communications, a competitive pay telephone service provider (CPTSP) based north of Montreal which offers service in a small portion of Québec, has long received compensation from the incumbent local exchange carrier (in this case Bell) for toll-free calls made from its phones.
In May 2019, AFX filed an application with the CRTC claiming Bell stopped, since March 2019, paying the required $0.80 a call when the payphone was connected to a Bell business line. Bell says the tariff only applies to calls made over a pay telephone access line (PAL) and not to call made on phones connected to business lines. Bell also admits it made those payments until March by mistake.
In a decision issued in December 2019, the CRTC indicated compensation of $0.80 should be paid on calls made on a PAL line and $0.25 when made from a regular business line.
However, it concluded the decision saying, “the Commission recognizes that, in Telecom Decision 2018-133, it sent a strong signal to CPTSPs regarding the potential future of PAL services. Accordingly, the Commission encourages CPTSPs and access line providers to negotiate mutually acceptable business arrangements with respect to the ongoing provision of services to CPTSPs, as well as with respect to any disagreements that may arise, including, for example, disagreements related to payments made as a result of the determinations set out in this decision. The Commission invites the parties to continue discussions to find mutually acceptable alternative solutions to their current disagreement.”
AFX disputes the decision because compensation, the company argues, should be based on the type of call and not on the type of line, but most importantly, it views the CRTC conclusion as a strong indication that the Commission views the actual compensation regime for CPTSPs is ending, which AFX sees as the end of competitive payphone service.
Now, AFX had three recourses to challenge this decision: asking the CRTC to review and vary its decision; to go to the Federal Court of Appeal, or go to the Governor in Council (Cabinet) for variation, rescission or referral.
AFX decided to avail itself of that last option, filing a petition with the Governor in Council on March 17, 2020. The petition was only gazetted on July 4th, probably due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In choosing the Cabinet route, AFX is arguing that the legal avenue is too onerous for a small independent company, the legal costs far outweighing the revenues at stake and it could take more than five years to get resolution while the Cabinet, by statute, has one year from the date of the decision to make a determination.
The CRTC route is also unappealing because it has no timeline and a positive decision there could also be appealed.
The Gazette Notice gives interested parties until August 4 to intervene and the Cabinet decision should be issued before December 19th, 2020.
There are 30 CPTSPs on the books providing a service which surely faces an uncertain present, with the pandemic, and future.
