MONTREAL, Dec. 16 /CNW Telbec/ -- Mr. Justice Cullen of the British Columbia Supreme Court today dismissed competitor complaints about 4 of 5 claims made by Bell Mobility in its advertising - but held that its "most reliable" claim will have to wait.
The judge ruled Bell cannot claim its new wireless network, launched in November, is Canada's "most reliable" simply because it's too new. Bell had defined "most reliable" as meaning fewest dropped calls and clearest voice quality - and those claims were backed up by the evidence presented. Bell can and will continue to advertise the new network as Canada's largest, fastest, best and most powerful in the country.
"The court didn't argue with Bell Mobility's testing that found the new network offered the clearest reception and the fewest dropped calls," said Wade Oosterman, President of Bell Mobility. "However, based on the judge's ruling, network tenure is now an issue in claiming that a network is most reliable. In other words, the reliability of a brand new network cannot now be directly compared to an older network. We don't agree of course and are considering an appeal."
For now, Bell Mobility will go ahead and remove all current advertising that includes the words "the most reliable" - which affects only about 10% of its total new wireless network advertising across Canada.
"We'll continue to let clients across Canada know about the new network's superiority of course," said Mr. Oosterman. "'Most reliable' can wait for another day, but there's no doubt that the new network is the largest and fastest, and nothing to stop us from letting Canadians know it's the country's best and most powerful wireless network for those very reasons."
The new network delivers high-speed - up to 21 Megabits per second - wireless service to more Canadians in more places than any other network. It covers approximately 93% of the Canadian population across 1.2 million square kilometres. The new network also supports international roaming in more than 200 countries around the globe and across the United States too, thanks to a roaming agreement with AT&T, the largest HSPA operator in the US.
About Bell
Based in Montréal, Bell is Canada's largest communications company, providing consumers and business with solutions to all their communications needs, including Bell Mobility wireless, high-speed Bell Internet, Bell TV direct-to-home satellite television, Bell Home phone local and long distance, and IP-broadband and information and communications technology (ICT) services. Bell is proud to be a Premier National Partner and the Exclusive Telecommunications Partner to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE). For information on Bell's products and services, please visit www.bell.ca. For corporate information on BCE, please visit www.bce.ca.
