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“This is an opportunity for the CRTC to send a message that it expects service providers to participate,” he said. “What they will do and how they will do it remains to be seen. I suppose it goes as far as shutting them down.”

Vois, a private company that doesn’t reveal how large it is or how many customers it serves, has been investigated by the CCTS for six complaints over the past couple of years. But the company hasn’t participated in the investigation process, Maker said. He acknowledged that the outcome could have been different if it had Vois’ side of the story instead of relying solely on information from customers.

“We’ve worked very hard to try to persuade Vois to play ball… and it has completely ignored us,” Maker said.

The organization proposed various remedies, such as asking Vois to reactivate numbers, retract derogatory credit reports and repay the relatively small sum of money. It took the final step of going to the CRTC after persistent silence from Vois.

Ultimately, Maker hopes Vois will comply and start co-operating with the CCTS.

The CRTC will get back to the CCTS with an action plan within 30 days, according to Maker.

“The Commission will determine the appropriate actions to take to address this matter,” spokeswoman Patricia Vallado said in an email. She did not state what those actions might be.

Vois did not return requests for comment.

Financial Post

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