SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Bell Mobility has met its contractual obligations in providing 911 service in the NWT by ensuring the equipment is in place to offer it, the telecom company's lawyer argued in NWT Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Lawyer Robert Deane said Bell provides the infrastructure needed for local governments to offer 911 but it isn't up to the company to provide a live operator, as argued by Yellowknife resident James Anderson, the complainant in the $6-million lawsuit.

Bell provides call routing when 911 is dialled and afterwards it's left to local governments to determine how the call is answered, Deane said. In Yellowknife, calls are directed to an automated message informing people that 911 is not offered and to call a provided number.

"They chose to make a recording available," Deane said, adding that Bell processes all 911 calls it receives. "(Residents) have access to what the local government provides."

Deane said Bell Mobility has in place the infrastructure to offer 911 service in the NWT, but because there is no Public Safety Answering Point the calls end up at the answering machine.

Justice R.S. Veale heard from Sam Marr, one of Anderson's lawyers, that allowing a class action lawsuit to proceed would open the doors of justice to other Bell customers. Marr said, the case "could never be litigated" if it's not done as a class action lawsuit.

"If you live here and reside here you're not getting any benefit from paying," he said of the 75 cent monthly 911 fee, adding, "Either you're connected to a live operator or you're not."

During his submissions, Deane said the case should not be accepted as a class action lawsuit because there could be numerous interpretations of how the 911 service fee works. Anderson's lawyers estimate some 50,000 people could join the class action lawsuit if the judge agrees to proceed that way.

"These unnamed, unknown third parties ... their claims cannot fairly be bound to Mr. Anderson's claims," Deane said.

Speaking outside the courthouse during a break in the case, Anderson said he was curious as to why Bell removed the 911 fee late last year, burying it in its wireless plans. He said the company has been making millions "on the backs of people a little bit at a time."

"You lose precious time when you get a recording to call another number," he said, referring to a Yellowknife couple in 2008 who tried to call 911 after falling through the ice in their truck. "The urgency, the emergency has already transpired."

The case will continue in Supreme Court today with a ruling expected this week on whether or not it will become a class action lawsuit.