Northwestel agrees to spend $5 million in non-compliance case

BCE Inc.-owned Northwestel will invest a fresh $5 million to upgrade its internet and mobile network infrastructure as part of an agreement with the CRTC after the company was found to have violated the regulator’s rate-setting rules in a first-of-its-kind case. In December 2018, the CRTC denied a Northwestel application to retroactively approve rates it charged business customers for nine of its special services, including transport and internet access, that it had previously applied without the regulator’s approval. The CRTC said the practice of charging unapproved rates went on for as long as seven years in one case -- from June 2010 to September 2017. The company, the regulator said in its denial, made too much money and charged the unapproved rates for too long to qualify for retroactive approval, typically meant for “one-time errors that occur as a result of administrative errors.” On Wednesday, as a result of the CRTC’s finding, the regulator issued its first agreement with a company found to have violated Section 25(1) of the Telecommunications Act, which stipulates that carriers cannot provide services unless a rate is filed to, and approved by, the regulator. The CRTC said the company must invest $3 million to bring fibre to First Nation offices, schools, health centres and government offices in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and northern British Columbia, and $2 million to expand cellphone service along highways and major roads in the three territories. The company has committed to finishing construction of the projects within three years, the regulator said in the release. Northwestel had initially filed tariffs for seven of its nine services that were approved by the regulator, but later changes to these were not filed, the CRTC said, adding two of the nine were initially offered without a filing of a tariff. “Northwestel self-identified this non-compliance and indicated that the affected customers were notified and agreed with the rates charged for these services,” CRTC spokeswoman Patricia Valladao said in an email. The company said the lapse occurred as a result of gaps in “administrative processes,” including not understanding regulatory changes. The CRTC said Northwestel has since “implemented internal process changes and compliance safeguards to ensure against compliance errors going forward.” The CRTC also said it was satisfied with Northwestel’s assurances that the new investment is in fact new, and not part of its five-year modernization plan, which involved extending 4G to 83 communities, expanding high-speed services in its operating territory, upgrading fixed-wireless services and transport facilities.

Northwestel agrees to spend $5 million in non-compliance case

Brief | June 12, 2019

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Northwestel agrees to spend $5 million in non-compliance case

Brief | June 12, 2019

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