VANCOUVER – Rogers Wireless has slapped rival Bell Mobility with a lawsuit over its claims that it operates “Canada’s most reliable network”, just days after Rogers itself was forced by Telus to stop claiming the same thing.
In court documents filed Tuesday in Vancouver, Rogers said that Bell’s claim that it’s new HSPA/HSPA + network is “the largest, fastest and most reliable network in Canada” is false and misleading because there are virtually no customers on the new network, and it has not conducted adequate testing.
Bell launched a national advertising campaign with that claim on November 4, 2009, in conjunction with the launch of its new network which it shares with Telus.
“The new network does not have sufficient customer load, nor has it been operating long enough, to permit Bell to fairly or adequately compare the speed and reliability of service on its new network to its competitors, including Rogers”, reads the statement of claim.
Rogers also took issue with Bell’s advertising claims that it has the “best” and “most powerful network”, saying that those claims “have the ability to cause confusion in the marketplace”, and potentially encourage customers to choose or switch to Bell over Rogers. It also said that Bell’s ads have caused “loss, damage and expense”, including depreciation of Rogers’ goodwill and competitive advantage.
Rogers has asked that Bell be ordered to pull the ads, and that it pay unspecified general and punitive damages.
Rogers also confirmed to Cartt.ca that it is appealing the ruling from its lawsuit with Telus that it stop referring to itself as “Canada’s most reliable network”. That appeal was heard Wednesday.
“We’re confident that once Bell and Telus have customers on their new network, we will demonstrate through rigorous testing that we are still more reliable”, Rogers spokesperson Odette Coleman wrote in an email to Cartt.ca.
