Telus is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to put its challenge against the CRTC on hold while the regulator decides whether the carrier’s $15 SIM and eSIM fee breaks new consumer protection rules, according to a September 18 court filing obtained by iPhone in Canada.
In the new filing, submitted Friday afternoon by Telus lawyers at Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP, the company asks the court to pause its appeal request until the CRTC makes a final decision in the underlying case involving Telus, Rogers and Bell.
It is the latest development in a court fight first reported by iPhone in Canada earlier this week, after we obtained Telus’s 228-page September 14 filing seeking permission to appeal an August CRTC ruling over how the regulator is handling the case.
Telus is not dropping that challenge. Instead, the company says it makes more sense to wait for the CRTC to finish the main case before the court decides whether to hear its procedural appeal.
If the CRTC decides Telus did nothing wrong, the court challenge may no longer be necessary. If the regulator finds Telus broke the rules, the company says more court challenges could follow, and it may make sense to deal with them together.
“In the interest of judicial economy and to ensure efficient use of the Court’s and the parties’ resources, Telus is not seeking to have the current motion determined at this time,” the company told the Federal Court of Appeal.
The filing obtained by iPhone in Canada also reveals that Rogers has filed its own appeal request over the same CRTC decision and has also asked the court to put its case on hold. Telus says it agrees with Rogers’ reasoning and proposed next steps.
The broader dispute goes back to new rules that took effect June 12 banning certain activation and modification fees.
On June 30, the CRTC opened proceedings involving Canada’s three largest wireless carriers. Bell was asked to explain its $40 device handling fee, Telus its $15 SIM and eSIM fee, and Rogers its $40 device setup fee, $25 shipping fee and an unspecified SIM charge.
The CRTC is now deciding whether those charges follow the Telecommunications Act and the regulator’s new rules. According to Telus’s latest court filing, the regulator has finished hearing the case and its final decision is still pending.
Telus’s original court challenge focuses mostly on how the CRTC handled the case. The carrier argues CRTC vice-president Scott Hutton should not be involved because of comments he made before the formal proceeding began, including his view that SIM cards are not optional for wireless service.
Telus also wanted the case split into two stages, with the CRTC first deciding whether a violation occurred before looking at possible penalties. Bell and Rogers supported that request, but the CRTC rejected the carriers’ arguments in August.
Telus maintains its $15 SIM charge covers costs associated with making, storing, setting up and supporting physical SIM cards and eSIMs. Its main argument is that a SIM is a product, not an activation fee banned by the new rules.
Potential penalties in the CRTC proceeding could reach $10 million against a company, along with penalties of up to $25,000 against individual officers or directors.
For now, Telus wants the Federal Court challenge parked while everyone waits for the CRTC’s final decision. That ruling will determine whether Telus’s appeal disappears or whether the fight heads back to court with even more issues on the table.
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