Concerns about lack of landline phone service

Municipality of Pictou County Warden Robert Parker raised the issue at January’s Council meeting by saying that he has heard residents are being told that people have long waits to have landline phones repaired or they are being told the repair service is no longer available in Pictou County.

“Can they leave people and say they are no longer serving you?” he asked. “Who do they turn to? They are turning to council because they are no longer getting service.”

The warden said the MOPC Is working on an internet project in the county that will make high-speed internet available to all rural residents, but it has nothing to do with landline phone service, nor should it affect the service that another company offers to its customers.

He said there had been an increase in cell phone usage and a decrease in landlines, but many people live in areas where cell service is poor, so landlines are necessary.

District 12 Coun. Chester Dewar said if he had an emergency in his house while the power was out, his wife would need to get in the car and drive to an area with cell service to call 911.

“In my area, cell phones don’t work, and if the power goes out, landlines don’t work,” he said. “If someone becomes sick and a storm causes the power to go out, how do you help these people.”

MOPC Staff said telephone service is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and complaints can be made directly to it. A motion was also passed for the council to write a letter to the CRTC to investigate the lack of landline service in rural Pictou County for safety and security purposes.

According to its website, the CRTC requires major telephone companies (for example, Bell Canada, Telus, Bell Aliant, MTS Allstream, SaskTel, Télébec and Northwestel) to provide the following information. These companies must include the following in all residential phone books:

• a reference to the Terms of Service

• a statement that the terms and conditions of service may vary depending on a customer’s location and service provider

• a statement directing customers to contact their service provider for details

The Terms of Service may include:

• obligation to provide service

• deposits and alternatives

• customer liability for calls

• confidentiality of customer records

• refunds in cases of service problems

• limitation of liability

• payment time limit

• termination of service

What happens to a complaint?

If the complaint is deemed an emergency, it will be dealt with immediately

For other complaints against regulated companies:

• the CRTC asks the telephone company to address the concerns.; the company generally has 20 calendar days to respond to the complaint and report back to the CRTC.

• CRTC's Client Services reviews your complaint and the response, and decides whether follow-up action is needed

• CRTC staff may:

- decide that the telephone company's response is satisfactory, with no further action

- ask for more information from you or the telephone company to determine what, if any, further action is needed

- refer your complaint to the CRTC's Telecommunications or Legal Directorates for further investigation.

The CRTC may decide to continue with a formal proceeding to resolve issues raised by your complaint. If no further action comes out of the proceeding, the CRTC may not contact you again.

How long will it take to hear back from the CRTC?

You should receive a response from the CRTC within 10 working days after the CRTC receives the complaint, letting you know that your complaint was received. The CRTC may then forward your complaint to the telephone company, asking for a response to your concerns, usually within 20 calendar days.

The time it takes to completely resolve a complaint depends on its complexity.

If you want to contact the CRTC with a complaint, you can use one of the methods below. Your complaint will be acknowledged by CRTC staff and forwarded to the service provider for its reply to your complaint. You will be informed if your complaint should be directed to the CCTS or another agency by:

on-line form: Complaints and inquiries

mail: Client Services, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2

fax: 819-994-0218

toll-free telephone: 1-877-249-CRTC (2782)

More information can be found at https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/phone/plaint.htm