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Telecom Public Notice CRTC 98-37
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Ottawa, 8 December 1998 |
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BC TEL and Competitive Pay Telephone Service Providers - RESTRICTION ON
LENGTH OF PAYPHONE CALLS
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References: BC TEL Tariff Notice 3863 and
Telecom Decision CRTC 98-8 |
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1. The Commission has received an application
under Tariff Notice (TN) 3863 from BC TEL, dated 14 October 1998, proposing
revisions to its Public Coin Telephone Service General Tariff. |
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2. BC TEL stated that it has been contacted by
one Location Provider, a school, which has requested that the length of
calls from its location's public coin telephones be curtailed. BC TEL
submitted that this requirement is not unique to this one location. BC TEL
proposed adding a Note to the Public Coin Telephone Service tariff
specifying that at the request of a Location Provider, the company will
limit the length of calls made from the location provider's specific
location and BC TEL shall not limit calls to a duration of less than 3
minutes. BC TEL proposed to post signage on or near these phones to notify
callers that a time limit is in effect. |
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3. BC TEL also proposed to remove the
condition that requires that public coin telephones be equipped with coin
boxes. BC TEL stated that today's payphones include models which accept
card payments. |
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4. The Commission introduced local pay
telephone competition in BC TEL territory pursuant to Local Pay
Telephone Competition, Telecom Decision CRTC
98-8, 30 June 1998. In that
Decision, the Commission also established safeguards to protect the
interests of consumers in a competitive market. |
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5. The Commission invites comments on BC TEL's
application, including comments on whether or not any conditions should be
imposed if BC TEL's application is approved. |
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6. The Commission also invites comments on
whether any conditions that may be imposed pursuant to paragraph 5 above
should also apply to Competitive Pay Telephone Service Providers (CPTSPs).
Conversely, the Commission invites comments on whether, in the event that
BC TEL TN 3863 is not approved, an additional safeguard should be imposed
on CPTSPs prohibiting the imposition of limits on the duration of the
length of calls. |
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PROCEDURE |
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7. BC TEL's application can be examined at any
of the company's business offices or at the offices of the CRTC in the
following locations: |
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Central Building
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
1 Promenade du Portage
Room 201
Hull, Quebec580 Hornby Street
Suite 530
Vancouver, British Columbia |
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8. BC TEL is made a party to this proceeding.
Persons wishing to participate in this proceeding must file a notice of
intention to participate with the Commission by writing to the Secretary
General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N2, fax: 819-953-0795, by 7 January
1999. |
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9. Parties may file comments, serving copies
on all other parties, by 18 January 1999. |
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10. Parties may file reply comments, serving
copies on all other parties, by 27 January 1999. |
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11. In addition to hard copy filings, parties
are encouraged to file with the Commission electronic versions of their
submissions in accordance with the Commission's Interim Telecom
Guidelines for the Handling of Machine-Readable Files, dated
30 November 1995. The Commission's Internet email address for
electronically filed documents is
public.telecom@crtc.gc.ca. Electronically filed documents can be
accessed at the Commission's Internet site at
http://www.crtc.gc.ca. |
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12. When a document is to be filed or served
by a specific date, the document must be actually received, not merely
sent, by that date. |
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13. The Commission expects to issue a ruling
with respect to BC TEL TN 3863 by April of 1999. |
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Secretary General |
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This document is available in alternative
format upon request. |