The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that rival telcos are accusing one another of selling an "illegal pirated TV service" and "poaching" customers in a lawsuit. The Globe's Irene Galea writes that the dispute between Telus and BCE's Bell Canada follows a continuing disagreement over wholesale Internet policy set by the CRTC. The policy requires certain of the big telcos to allow rivals to access their fibre networks, in areas where those rivals do not themselves own infrastructure. Bell said it is not currently using the framework to resell in Telus's territory. In its original statement of claim, filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on June 26, Bell alleged that Telus's door-to-door sales representatives promoted, facilitated and assisted in the installation of an illegal pirated television service, inducing Bell customers to switch to Telus services and infringing on Bell's copyright, according to the filings. In the same filings, Telus advanced a counterclaim, alleging that Bell had itself engaged in "anti-competitive acts calculated to induce Telus's customers in Ontario and Quebec to switch to Bell," and acting with the intention to cause economic harm by "poaching" Telus's customers.
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