The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, May 8, edition that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has warned that BCE's Bell Canada's new device-handling fee may violate its policy prohibiting telecoms from charging switching and activation fees. The Globe's Irene Galea writes that Bell has introduced a one-time $40 device-handling fee for customers purchasing mobile devices. This charge covers fulfillment costs and only applies to optional device purchases, not when customers bring their own phones. However, this fee "may be considered to be an activation fee that is prohibited" under the CRTC's new regulatory policy, vice-president Scott Hutton told Bell in a letter sent to the company Thursday. A policy introduced in mid-March, effective June 12, bans telecom companies from imposing fees that deter customers from switching providers, including activation fees that had reached up to $80. That regulatory policy recognized that some fees related to optional services or products agreed to by customers "warranted an exemption from the prohibition because there were direct costs association with their provision." Bell spokesman Luc Levasseur said the company is reviewing the CRTC's letter.