OTTAWA — Millions of Canadian telephone subscribers can expect to receive small rebates after the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday upheld an order to reimburse about $300 million in overpayments collected from residential customers.
The court unanimously ruled that Canada's telecommunications regulator did not overstep its broad power when it decided how telephone companies must spend a $650-million special fund, fuelled by urban land line customers from 2002-2006.
The Supreme Court concluded that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission "came to a reasonable conclusion" when it ordered the phone companies to spend about $350 million on broadband Internet for remote areas and disperse the remainder among the urbanites who were overbilled.
The phone companies, led by market leaders Bell Canada and Telus, lost their appeal to spend the $650 million solely on broadband and keep any leftovers in company coffers.
Consumer groups, in a counter bid, failed in their quest for the entire amount to be refunded to urban customers.
"The Supreme Court decision confirms the power of the CRTC to act like a mini-government, taxing the customers of one service, in this case local telephone service, to fund projects in a completely unrelated and unregulated service — broadband Internet," said Michael Janigan, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
Bell and Telus said Friday that the amount of the individual rebates, who will get them, and when and how they will be dispersed, is yet to be determined.
Subscribers should not expect large windfalls, cautioned Janigan, who predicted about 15 million current customers could receive one-time rebates of a few dollars to about $20, depending on the phone company they use.
The legal battle arose from the CRTC setting a price-cap formula for local phones rates in "non-high-cost serving areas" from 2002-2006. The formula allowed for price decreases if inflation fell below 3.5 per cent.
The CRTC, however, was concerned that lowering rates would hurt emerging competitors in the local market, and thus ordered phone companies to set up "deferral accounts" to keep track of the credits.
In 2006, the regulator issued its contentious decision on how the deferral accounts should be spent.
Bell Canada has the largest account. Its urban customers in Quebec and Ontario can expect to split as much as $150 million, said Mirko Bibic, senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs.
Another $300 million will go toward building broadband networks to about 100 remote communities in the two provinces, he said.
"One of the issues that needs to be determined is which customers will be entitled to a refund and what date do we use to determine who is eligible for the refund," said Bibic. "I don't want to speculate on what the numbers are going to be."
Telus, which has a significantly smaller deferral account of about $140 million, will devise a new plan, subject to CRTC approval, to extend broadband to about 220 remote communities in British Columbia, Alberta, and eastern Quebec, said Ted Woodhouse, Telus vice president of regulatory affairs.
The company would then spend the remainder — if there is any — on urban subscribers, he said.
The other smaller companies involved are Bell Aliant, serving Atlantic Canada, Manitoba Telecom Services and SaskTel, but their customer rebates will be negligible, predicted Janigan.
http://www.vancouversun.com/court+co...010/story.html 
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
The banners on the left side and below do not show for registered users!
