ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission Letter Addressed to David Wilkie (Tbaytel)

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Ottawa, 13 February 2018

BY E-MAIL

Mr. David Wilkie
Regulatory Analyst
Tbaytel
1046 Lithium Drive
Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 6G3
David.Wilkie@tbaytel.com

Dear Mr. Wilkie:

RE: Revised Wireless Code implementation – Tbaytel’s Part 1 application for an extension of time File No. 8665-T8-201707259

This letter sets out the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s determinations on Tbaytel’s Part 1 application seeking an extension of time to implement certain requirements in Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2017-200 – Review of the Wireless Code (the revised Code policy).

In its application filed 16 August 2017, Tbaytel stated it is unable to comply with certain requirements of section E (Bill Management) of the revised Code by the  1 December 2017 deadline. For this reason, it requested an extension to 1 December 2018 to implement these rules. Tbaytel stated that it will implement all other requirements of the revised Code on time.

Specifically, Tbaytel requested an extension to implement the rules discussed in paragraphs 121 and 122 of the revised Code policy and reflected in the following sections of the revised Code:

The Commission considers that, due to the exceptional circumstance of its legacy billing system, Tbaytel has demonstrated that it is facing barriers that make it financially unreasonable as well as technically impossible to implement the requirements related to rules E.1 (i), E.2 (i and iii), and E.3 (i and iii) of the revised Code relevant to multi-user plans by 1 December 2017. With respect to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s request that Tbaytel waive all data overage and data roaming charges prior to the account holder being notified, the Commission considers that this request goes above and beyond the requirements set out in the revised Code.

Therefore, the Commission approves Tbaytel’s request to extend its implementation deadline from 1 December 2017 to 1 December 2018 for only the rules outlined in sections E.1 (i), E.2 (i and iii), and E.3 (i and iii) of the revised Code.

Until Tbaytel has fully implemented the revised Code for all customers, the Commission expects Tbaytel to credit or refund customers who complain to Tbaytel regarding the rules set out in E.1-3 of the revised Code and who are legitimately entitled to a credit or a refund. In particular, the Commission expects Tbaytel to credit or refund customers in any cases where Tbaytel bills them for data overage charges or data roaming charges in excess of the respective caps, without first obtaining the express consent of either the account holder or an authorized user accepting such additional charges.

The Commission reminds Tbaytel that:

To ensure that Tbaytel’s customers are aware of the delays and can seek recourse where appropriate, the Commission directs Tbaytel to:

Lastly, in order to monitor both Tbaytel’s progress towards the implementation of these sections of the revised Code and customer complaints, the Commission further directs Tbaytel to:

The Commission intends to monitor consumer complaints for any systemic issues arising from the delays in implementing the revised Code. 

Yours sincerely,

(Original signed by)

Claude Doucet
Secretary General
CRTC

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jlawford@piac.ca

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