Telus loses bid to halt Mobilicity ads
Judge finds ‘no irreparable harm’ in his decision
Television ads being run by startup carrier Mobilicity will continue to air this holiday season touting the company’s “unlimited” plans while taking shots at similar claims made by larger rivals like Telus Corp.
A court in British Columbia denied Wednesday a request from Telus for an injunction on the ads, which are running on channels in the province as well as in Alberta and Ontario, where the smaller carrier has set up in major cities like Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.
Using lines such as, “what you see isn’t always what you get,” the ads criticize claims of unlimited calling and data-messaging services made by competitors while employing colours associated with rival brands, including Telus.
The country’s third-largest carrier filed suit on Dec. 7 against Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless Inc., which operates under the Mobilicity name.
“This ad has damaged Telus’ brand with these false claims,” a spokesperson for Telus said, calling the ads “misleading.”
Telus said “irreparable harm” has been done to it by the campaign. “As a result of Mobilicity’s wrongful acts … Mobilicity has been enriched and Telus has been correspondingly deprived,” the carrier said.
“Neither side, in my view, is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the event that the injunction is either granted or refused,” B.C. Justice J. Christopher Grauer said in his decision.
Telus has market share of about 28 per cent of the $19.1-billion mobile sector, according CRTC figures. In B.C., the carrier’s core market, it has share of 50 per cent.
Mobilicity and rival startups Wind Mobile and Public Mobile control less than five per cent of the national market combined.
“We’re not a significant factor in (threatening) Telus’ market share. Hopefully one day, but this is entirely about intimidation,” Stewart Lyons, chief operating officer for Mobilicity said.
“This time it cost them because now they’ll have to pay my court costs.”
While the interim injunction request has been thrown out, Telus said Wednesday it will continue to pursue in court claims by the smaller rival, notably the key marketing boast of unlimited data for Mobilicity subscribers.
Specifically, Telus says the practice of “throttling” or slowing down data speeds on heavy users makes impossible things like video streaming and the transfer of large files — which Telus concludes means Mobilicity cannot offer truly “unlimited” data service.
Telus has requested a full hearing with the Supreme Court of British Columbia to be held some time in the
We’re not a significant factor in (threatening) Telus’ market share. Hopefully one day, but this is entirely about intimidation.
MOBILICITY COO STEWART LYONS
new year, a spokesperson said.
“We believe that Mobilicity’s data throttling that restricts their unlimited plans is misleading and must be addressed,” Telus spokesperson Shawn Hall said.
The minor legal skirmish has erupted as the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission is set to review practices such as lengthy three-year contracts and certain fees charged by some carriers.