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Telecom - Commission Letter addressed to Robert Trudeau (Optitel Mobile Inc.)

Ottawa, 20 October 2022

Our reference: 1011-NOC2023-0045

BY EMAIL

Robert Trudeau
President
Optitel Mobile Inc.
205-265 chemin de la Grande-Côte
Rosemère (Qc) J7A1J2
rtrudeau@optitel.ca

Subject:   Your company’s mandatory participation in the CCTS

Dear Mr. Trudeau,

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has been informed that Optitel Mobile Inc. has failed to become a participant in the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS).

The CCTS provides an important service to Canadians by helping them settle their disputes with their telecommunications service providers (“service providers”). Participating in the CCTS is mandatory for all service providers, including resellers who offer services within the framework of the CCTS’s mandate. More than 300 large and small service providers currently participate in the CCTS.

Failure to participate in the CCTS is taken seriously by the CRTC and may result in enforcement action being taken against non-compliant service providers. For instance, the CRTC may undertake regulatory proceedings and could, at the end of such proceedings, impose administrative monetary penalties against non-compliant service providers. A first contravention can result in a penalty of up to $25,000 for individuals and of up to $10,000,000 in any other case. It should also be noted that a person can be held liable for a violation that is committed by an employee, agent or mandatary of that person. In addition, officers, directors, agents or mandataries of a corporation can be held responsible for a corporation’s violation in some circumstances. Appendix A includes additional details concerning the CCTS participation requirement and the Telecommunications Act.

According to the information provided by the CCTS, a first letter was sent to you on 12 April 2022 requesting that you comply with the participation requirement before 12 May 2022. A second notice was sent to you on 13 May 2022 and a third one on 1 June 2022. As of the date of this letter, Optitel Mobile Inc. has yet to comply with its participation requirement. Accordingly, Optitel Mobile Inc. and its officers, directors, agents or mandataries may have committed a violation as a result of their refusal to comply with the CRTC’s requirement to participate in the CCTS.

To prevent the CRTC from undertaking regulatory proceedings and taking further enforcement action against your business or any other responsible person, Optitel Mobile Inc. must become a participant in the CCTS and provide proof of that participation. As proof, please provide a copy of the CCTS letter confirming your business’s participation to the Chief of Consumer, Research and Communications by 10 November 2022 at the latest.

If you have any questions concerning the CCTS registration process, contact Josée Thibault at the CCTS at 613-688-4752. If you have any specific questions concerning the participation requirement imposed by the CRTC or any of the requirements of the Telecommunications Act, contact Nanao Kachi, Director of Social and Consumer Policy, at 819-997-4700 or nanao.kachi@crtc.gc.ca.

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by

Scott Hutton
Chief of Consumer, Research and Communications

Appendix A – Additional details concerning Optitel Mobile Inc.’s requirement to participate in the CCTS and the Telecommunications Act

As per paragraph 45 of Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Policy 2016-102, the CRTC requires, pursuant to sections 24 and 24.1 of the Telecommunications Act (the “Act”), that as a condition of offering or providing telecommunication services:

The term “person” includes any individual, partnership, body corporate, unincorporated organization, government, government agency and any other person or entity that acts in the name of or for the benefit of another, including a trustee, executor, administrator, liquidator of the succession, guardian, curator or tutor; as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Act.

Pursuant to section 72.001 of the Act, every contravention of a provision of this Act, other than section 17 or 69.2, every contravention of a regulation or decision made by the Commission under this Act, other than a prohibition or a requirement of the Commission made under section 41, and every contravention of any of subsections 51(1) to (4) and (7), 52(1) to (3) and 53(1) to (3) and (6) of the Accessible Canada Act constitutes a violation and the person who commits the violation is liable

  1. in the case of an individual, to an administrative monetary penalty not exceeding $25,000 and, for a subsequent contravention, a penalty not exceeding $50,000; or
  2. in any other case, to an administrative monetary penalty not exceeding $10,000,000 and, for a subsequent contravention, a penalty not exceeding $15,000,000.

Pursuant to section 72.008 of the Act, an officer, director or agent or mandatary of a corporation that commits a violation is liable for the violation if they directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the violation, whether or not the corporation is proceeded against.

Pursuant to section 72.16 of the Act, a person is liable for a violation that is committed by an employee of the person acting in the course of the employee’s employment, or by an agent or mandatary of the person acting within the scope of the agent’s or mandatary’s authority, whether or not the employee or agent or mandatary who actually committed the violation is identified or proceeded against.

The CRTC received a letter from the CCTS on 30 September 2022. In that letter, the CCTS informed the CRTC of the following:

According to the CRTC’s information as of 20 October 2022, Optitel Mobile Inc. is still in non-compliance with its obligation to participate in the CCTS.

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