A father and son from Yellowknife have won their bid to expand a class action suit to the Yukon.

James and Samuel Anderson are suing Bell Mobility for charging its northern customers a $0.75-a-month 911 fee where no live 911 service is available.

Whitehorse is the only place in the three territories with 911 service, which leaves almost 30,000 northern cell users paying for, but not receiving, a 911 service.

The Andersons launched the case in 2007, with the help of Landy Marr Kats LLP, a Toronto-based law firm which specializes in class action suits, and a judge approved it as a class action on behalf of the 24,071 Bell customers in N.W.T. (The Star incorrectly reported that number as 2,471 in a previous article.)

The case has been moving at "a snail's pace” since then, James Anderson told the Star last month.

"Bell has fought us every step of the way. We haven't agreed on anything since the beginning.”

But the Andersons won their latest battle, clearing the way for a trial early next year.

Sitting as a justice of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, Yukon judge Ron Veale heard the Andersons' application to expand the class action to all northerners, have Bell insert a notice of the suit in all monthly bills, and make efforts to contact former customers by mail.

Only people who were customers before April 13, 2010 are included in the class action.

The Andersons also argued for a jury trial.

Bell argued against all those applications; Veale approved all but one.

In his 22-page judgment released last week, he found a "real and substantial connection” between Bell customers in Yukon and Nunavut, and those already part of the class action in Yellowknife.

He concluded that any Bell Mobility customers living in the Yukon (outside of Whitehorse) and all Nunavut customers should be included in the suit.

"The principles of order and fairness support this finding,” Veale wrote

"In my view, it would not be fair to the claimants or Bell Mobility to have three separate court actions in Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut, each of which will involve considerable cost for all parties. This decision is also supported by the policies of access to justice and judicial economy.”

All Bell customers who are charged a 911 access fee but do have a 911 live operator where they live will be included in the suit, although people will have the option to opt out, Veale ordered.

Bell had disputed that course of action, saying people should have to opt in, but Veale disagreed.

"The financial rewards on an individual basis are in the order of $9.00 per year, so it would not be economic or efficient for a class member to have to spend time and effort to join the proceeding,” he concluded.

He also ordered the company to insert special notices in every relevant customer's monthly bill, as well as make efforts to contact former customers by mail.

Bell must buy quarter-page advertisements in News/North, the Yukon News, the Yellowknifer and the Nunatsiaq News.

However, Veale rejected the Andersons' application to have a trial by jury for a number of reasons.

Firstly, he said, the trial will be too long and legally complex for a jury to reasonably manage.

Secondly, Veale pointed out that of the 43,000 people who live in N.W.T., 24,000 are Bell customers and a jury would be drawn from the 21,000 living in Yellowknife.

He concluded "it will be difficult to empanel a jury that does not have an interest or a relationship with someone interested in the proceeding.”

The trial is scheduled for May 7-18, 2012, in Yellowknife. Veale noted the pretrial arguments have taken more than three years and set a strict schedule for the rest of the process.

According to the notice which will be sent out to potential class action participants, the suit against Bell is for repayment of all monthly charges, plus interest, legal costs and punitive damages of $1 million.

Bell claims it is only responsible for providing the call routing system, not the actual 911 service.

All Bell Mobility customers have access to 911 service if they are in a region where it is available.

Landy Marr Kats LLP will only collect their fee should they win the case, and will take their cut from the total amount received from Bell.

No member of the class action will be responsible for any legal fees should the suit fail.