TELUS is facing a criminal charge over failing to supply cellphone records to the RCMP.

Police in Edmonton say they asked for the records six months ago as part of an investigation into the disappearance and murders of several women.

Al Fraser of the RCMP said the phone company is obliged to hand over the records in response to a court order.

The company is charged with failing to comply with a production warrant.

Investigators with Project Kare, the task force established to look into dozens of cases of missing or murdered Edmonton-area women, say the cellphone records could help them narrow the search for one or more serial killers.

"And so because of that and not having that information which is important to the investigation, this is the extreme circumstance that they went to in terms of laying charges," said Al Fraser.

In court Tuesday, Telus officials said the matter seems to have slipped through the cracks.

Jim Johannsson of Telus testified that the company routinely provides this kind of information to police but in this case it had warned police it would be costly.

He maintains that no one from the police contacted the company to confirm that the RCMP would pay for the information.

Telus officials say they intend to provide the records. If not, they could face a $250,000 fine or imprisonment.

Sanjeev Anand, a law professor at the University of Alberta, says police forces across the country face the problem of steep bills for the information they need to fight crime.

"That means there's less money out there for beat cops, there's less money out there for domestic violence situations, you name it," said Anand.