Telus calls out Mobilicity on ad
‘Unlimited’ plans focus of lawsuit
Telus Corp. is taking legal action against television ads aired by smaller wireless competitor Mobilicity, filing suit in a British Columbia court seeking an injunction.
The ads, which began airing in November ahead of the all-important holiday selling season, suggest “what you see isn’t always what you get” from Telus and the country’s other big mobile providers, Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE’s Bell Mobility.
The ads claim “unlimited plans” on cellphone contracts sold by the big players don’t actually offer subscribers lim- itless use for items like phone calls or text messages, while advertising Mobilicity’s own voice and data services as truly “unlimited.”
Telus notified Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises WirelessInc., which operates under Mobilicity, on Nov. 27 it had an issue with the ads, which have run in print as well.
“Mobilicity has refused or neglected to comply with this demand and continues to make the mispresentations,” legal documents filed Dec. 7 with the Supreme Court of British Columbia said.
Telus said “irreparable harm” has been done to it by the campaign. “As a result of Mobilicity’s wrongful acts ... Moblicity has been enriched and Telus has been correspondingly deprived,” the carrier said.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
Telus has market share of about 28 per cent of the $19.1-billion mobile sector, ac- cording CRTC figures. Mobilicity and rival startups Wind Mobile and Public Mobile control less than five per cent of the market combined.
“We think it’s preposterous, this is the same stuff we’ve been saying for 2 1/2 years,” said Stewart Lyons, president and chief operating officer for Mobilicity. “They appear to be trying to intimidate us and prevent us from getting our message out.”
Mobilicity, which launched services in Toronto in mid2010, has since rolled services out to major cities across the country.
A court date has been scheduled for Dec. 14. when Telus will seek a halt to the airing of the ads.
The legal row comes as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is reviewing industry practices, such as lengthy three-year contracts and fees charged by certain carriers.