Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to Philippe Gauvin (Bell Canada) and Khan, Imran (Northwestel Inc.)
Ottawa, 12 October 2023
Reference(s): CRTC 8622-J64-202305771
BY E-MAIL
Philippe Gauvin
Assistant General Counsel
Bell Canada
Floor 19, 160 Elgin Street
Ottawa ON K2P 2C4
bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Khan, Imran (CFO & VP Corporate Services)
Northwestel Inc.
301 Lambert Street, fl 3,
Whitehorse, YT, Y1A 4Y4
regulatoryaffairs@nwtel.ca
Subject: Iristel Part 1 Application expedited request for interim and final orders regarding a disconnection notice sent by Bell Canada Inc. AND by Northwestel Inc.
Dear Philippe Gauvin and Imran Khan,
On 3 October 2023, the Commission received a Part 1 application from Iristel Inc. (Iristel) in which Iristel requests interim orders on an expedited basis and final order from the Commission directing Bell Canada Inc. , including its Atlantic division Bell Aliant, and its affiliate Bell MTS (together Bell) and Northwestel Inc. (Northwestel) to rescind disconnection notices issued to Iristel on 21 and 22 September 2023 and to continue to provide services until such time as the Commission has disposed of this application on the merits.
Iristel states that it received a letter from Bell dated 21 September, advising Iristel that due to overdue amounts and pursuant to Article 10 of Bell Canada’s General Tariff filed with the CRTC and/or the contract between Iristel and Bell Canada, that Bell would have the right to disconnect all services associated with Iristel on 23 October 2023.
Iristel also states that it received a letter from Northwestel dated 22 September, advising Iristel that due to overdue amounts and pursuant to Article 22 of Northwestel's General Tariff filed with the CRTC, Northwestel would have the right to disconnect all services associated with the aforementioned accounts on 24 October 2023.
Iristel submitted that if Bell and Nortwestel disconnect services to Iristel, telecommunications will be disrupted for the more than 10 million telephone numbers serviced by Iristel.
As such, Iristel requests a Commission decision ordering Bell and Northwestel to abstain from suspending service offered to Iristel. Iristel also requested the Commission to process its application for interim relief on an expedited basis.
In order to allow the Commission to properly assess Iristel's application, Commission staff requests Bell and Northwestel to maintain the telecommunication services provided to Iristel until the Commission has rendered a decision on the final relief and to confirm with the Commission, within 24 hours of receipt of this letter, that said Bell and Northwestel services will be maintained.
Commission staff considers that, in the circumstances, it is appropriate to process the request for final relief on an expedited basis. Accordingly, Bell, Northwestel and all interested parties have until 27 October 2023 to file their answer or comments to the final relief application, with a copy to Iristel. Reply comments from Iristel may be filed no later than 3 November 2023, with a copy to Bell, Northwestel and all interested parties. Documents are to be received, and not merely sent, by these dates.
Sincerely,
Original signed by Philippe Nadeau for
Michel Murray
Director, Dispute resolution and regulatory Implementation
Telecommunications sector
c.c. : Jean-Francois Dumoulin, Iristel, regulatory@iristel.com
Lapointe, CRTC, simon.lapointe@crtc.gc.ca
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