SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - People signing up for a cell phone plan with Bell Mobility will find a surprise on their bill - actually, it's more what won't be found: 911 fees.

The 75 cent monthly charge was removed from Bell Mobility cell phone bills at the end of November last year, following suit with mobile service providers Rogers and Telus. Along with the 911 fee, the $6.95 system access fee was also removed from all plans signed onto after Dec. 1 last year. All customers on plans signed before Dec. 1 will continue to see the 911 and system access fees on their bills.

Bell's insistence to continue charging the 911 fee to NWT customers even though they can't access the service convinced one Yellowknife resident, James Anderson, to launch a $6-million class action lawsuit in 2007, which continues to wind its way through the courts.

While new customers and those changing their plans won't see the pesky fees on their bills, they're still paying for them. With the removal of the two fees, Bell raised the overall price of its monthly plan by $5.

A manager with Bell's customer service centre said customers still pay for the 911 and system access fees, they just don't see them directly on their bills.

"You might not see it but you're still paying for it," the manager said, adding all customers who sign Bell's service contract will find they are required to pay for 911 even though they don't have access to the service in the territory.

"They don't differentiate that. It's mandatory for our service that they charge it. It's a standard fee, so people can have 911 access. It's still available for you anywhere in Canada and it should be standard for everyone to pay."

Julie Smithers, spokesperson for Bell Mobility in Toronto, said the change was put in place to simplify monthly bills for customers.

"People just wanted easier bills," she said, adding it was all part of their change-over to new network, data service and pricing plans.

Anderson, meanwhile, said he isn't surprised the fee is being hidden.

"It wasn't entirely unexpected because the other carriers had done away with it," Anderson said.

Both Rogers and Telus have eliminated 911 and system access fees, however, Rogers replaced its system access fee in September 2008 with an item called a "regulatory recovery fee."