ARCHIVED - Order CRTC 2000-737
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Order CRTC 2000-737 |
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| Ottawa, 4 August 2000 | |
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TCBC B8Zs coded signal option denied Tariff Notice 4040 |
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| The Commission denies TELUS Communications (B.C.) Inc.'s application to offer Binary Eight Zero Substitution (B8ZS) coded signal option for DS-1 transmission under its General Tariff. B8ZS provides improved transmission efficiency. The Commission finds that the cost information is incomplete and the proposed rate is excessive. | |
| 1. | TELUS Communications (B.C.) Inc. (TCBC) is directed to file a revised General Tariff application within 30 days that provides the costing information as requested by the Commission in this proceeding. The application is also to propose a rate incorporating a mark-up that is in line with those of access facilities the B8ZS option is being used with, or alternatively, a rate structure comparable to other companies. The company is to provide for each existing Special Facilities Tariff, a comparison of the charge for B8ZS and the proposed General Tariff rate, and provide the company's migration plan from the Special Facilities Tariff to the General Tariff for the customers. |
| 2. | The Commission agrees with the company that the General Tariff is the appropriate way of tariffing this service. TCBC submitted that while the service is available under the Special Facilities Tariff, there is now sufficient demand to offer it under the General Tariff. |
| 3. | The Commission received comments from Microcell Telecommunications Inc. on behalf of itself and on behalf of Clearnet Communications Inc. The intervenors requested the Commission deny Tariff Notice 4040 and require TCBC to file an amended application based on a one-time charge determined using incremental costs plus a 25 percent mark-up. |
| 4. | The intervenors claimed that the proposed rates are excessive. According to the intervenors, companies employ B8ZS as a standard functionality in their access networks across the country. To their knowledge, only TCBC applies a monthly recurring charge. They also stated that MTS Communications Inc. and TELUS Communications Inc. do not charge for the service, while Bell Canada only charges a modest one-time amount. |
| 5. | The intervenors also indicated that the charge is unjustified because the plug-in cards are fungible, given that the cards capable of providing B8ZS are used for various DS-1 services. |
| 6. | In reply, TCBC submitted that B8ZS is an uncapped service, and as such, any upper pricing constraint is not warranted. Further, since it is not an essential service, the 25 percent mark-up limitation should not apply. |
| 7. | The Commission notes that in response to interrogatory TCBC(CRTC)27Apr2000-1, the company failed to provide the breakdown of the expenses requested. |
| 8. | The Commission also considered the information provided by the company which showed that, in most cases, the cards used to provide DS-1s are B8ZS-capable and all that is required is to select the card parameters to activate the option. |
| 9. | The Commission also notes that B8ZS is used in the provision of DS-1s associated with access facilities. The Commission considers that since access facilities are classified as other capped services under the price cap regime, the B8ZS option should be similarly treated as an other capped service. |
| Secretary General | |
| This document is available in alternative format upon request and may also be examined at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca |
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