Incumbents cheat at cards: competitors

Who knew customer-appreciation cards could cause such a kerfuffle? Quebecor Media Inc. (QMI) is complaining once again that Bell Canada’s customer-appreciation cards violate the CRTC’s "winback" restrictions, but Bell says that’s not the case. Meanwhile Shaw Communications Inc. points to Telus Corp.’s customer-appreciation cards as winback violators, but Telus says it’s within the law. Sound familiar? We’ve been here before. In April the CRTC ruled on this issue. Telecom Decision 2006-17, which stemmed from a QMI complaint, saw the commission slap Bell’s hand for sending customer-appreciation cards to Quebec residents who had recently defected from Bell’s service. The cards invited customers to contact the incumbent, which, according to the CRTC, constituted a winback-rule violation. Incumbents aren’t supposed to try to win a customer back for three months after the customer defects. The commission advised Bell to play by the book.Fast forward to June 16: QMI wrote to the commission, again accusing Bell of skirting the rules. QMI, which operates Quebec-based telecom service providers Vidéotron ltée and Vidéotron Telecom Ltd., said the incumbent’s new customer appreciation cards still constitute a winback violation. But Bell says QMI’s interpretation is hooey. In its own June 21 letter to the CRTC, the incumbent points out that the new cards do little more than describe the carrier’s regret that the customer left. The cards don’t even sport a phone number, Bell notes. QMI insists that the new cards do break the law. They invite Bell’s former customers to contact the incumbent, QMI argues.Bell’s new cards tell customers that "industry regulations prevent us from contacting you in an effort to win back your residential phone service for a period of three months. We are counting down the days until we can talk to you again. These rules do not prevent you from contacting us if you are interested in more information about your local service." According to QMI, "there can be no doubt that the purpose of the new customer-appreciation card is the same as the old one. Both cards invite the former customer to contact Bell Canada and both qualify as an attempt by Bell Canada to win back former local exchange service customers in violation of the winback rule. QMI requests the commission to direct Bell Canada to immediately stop sending these customer-appreciation cards or any other such cards." Bell counters by saying the card does not invite customers to contact the company. The card "merely provides purely factual information to educate the customer about the winback rules," reads Bell’s letter. "It is inconceivable what possible public interest would be served by denying consumers the right to receive this type of factual information about the rules that affect them." As the Bell-QMI battle rages, Shaw has filed its own complaint with the CRTC regarding Telus’s "we-miss-you" cards in BC. In a June 27 letter to the commission, Shaw writes that Telus’s cards contravene the CRTC’s April decision about QMI and Bell because Telus’s cards sport a phone number and they invite former customers to contact Telus. Telus’s card reads: "We miss you and want you to know we’ve appreciated the opportunity to serve you….If there’s anything we can do to help, or if you want to discuss something with us, please don’t hesitate to call us directly." Shaw requests that the commission declares Telus’s cards winback violators within 30 days. Shaw also wants the commission to deter winback-rule infringements. For its part, Telus says Shaw’s concerns bear no resemblance to QMI and Bell. "It remains Telus’s view that the facts underlying Decision 2006-17 are entirely distinguishable from the present case," Telus regulatory executive Janet Yale wrote to Shaw in May, after Shaw contacted Telus about the issue. "Telus will not…cease and desist from continuing to send those cards." According to Lis Angus, a telecom industry analyst at Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. in Kemptville ON, it’s no surprise that Bell is fighting to keep the cards in play. "The fact is they hate the winback restrictions and they’ll do anything they can to bypass them. They have an appeal to the Federal Court on the winback decision on constitutional grounds. They’ve also appealed to the CRTC to reverse it. It seems they thought these customer-appreciation cards were a very clever way to get around it."Bell argues that QMI’s latest complaint is at odds with the Telecom Policy Review Panel’s (TPRP) report, which came out in March. Charged with scrutinizing telecom regulations, the TPRP said "winback campaigns should not be restricted." Bell also pointed to Minister of Industry Maxime Bernier’s recent statement at the 2006 Canadian Telecom Summit that market forces, not regulations, should rule the sector. But the government is still mulling over the TPRP report, and Bernier’s proposed policy directive that the CRTC should apply a lighter touch to regulations isn’t law. "So far it’s just a bunch of people’s opinions," Angus notes. "Bell Canada’s been banking on this Telecom Policy report ever since it started pressing for it to solve all their problems. They’re interpreting every statement from the Minister as a huge victory. I think the Minister is doing a careful dance to appear to be doing something. And who knows? He may well be doing something. But he hasn’t done it yet."

Incumbents cheat at cards: competitors

News | 07/06/2006 4:00 am EDT

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