ARCHIVED - Telecom - Commission Letter - 8678-C12-11/01 & 8624-B20-01/00 -Public Notice CRTC 2001-37 - Price cap review and related issues - Request forDisclosure

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Letter

Our file: 8678-C12-11/01 and 8624-B20-01/00

Ottawa, 18 July 2001

BY TELECOPIER

To: Interested Parties

Re: Public Notice CRTC 2001-37 - Price cap review and related issues - Request for Disclosure

This letter deals with a request for disclosure of information filed under claim of confidence to the above-noted proceeding.

The request was filed by AT&T Canada Corp. on behalf of itself and AT&T Canada Telecom Services Company (AT&T Canada).

Responses to this request were received from Aliant Telecom Inc., Bell Canada, MTS Communications Inc. and Saskatchewan Telecommunications (collectively the Companies) and TELUS Communications Inc. (TELUS).

Unless otherwise expressly indicated in Attachment 1, relevant parties are to file with the Commission all information to be provided pursuant to this letter by Monday, 23 July 2001, serving copies on all interested parties by the same date. This material should be received, and not merely sent, by that date.

This letter reflects the Commission's objective of ensuring that all parties have the benefit of the maximum amount of information placed on the public record at the earliest appropriate stage, in order to facilitate a more efficient and effective proceeding.

Requests for Public Disclosure

Requests for disclosure of information for which confidentiality has been claimed are assessed in light of sections 38 and 39 of the Telecommunications Act and section 19 of the CRTC Telecommunications Rules of Procedure (the Rules). In the case of each request, the public interest in disclosure is weighed against the specific direct harm, if any, likely to result from disclosure. In doing so, a number of factors are taken into account, including the following.

The degree of competition that exists in a particular market is an important consideration in assessing requests for disclosure. All things being equal, the greater the degree of competition in a particular market, the greater the specific harm that could be expected to result from disclosure.

Another factor in assessing the extent of harm is the expected usefulness of the information at issue to parties in furthering their competitive position. In this regard, an important consideration is the degree to which the

information at issue is disaggregated. Generally speaking, the more aggregated the information, the less the likelihood that harm will flow from its disclosure.

The expectation that specific direct harm might result from disclosure is not, by itself, sufficient to justify maintaining a claim of confidentiality. In certain circumstances, substantial harm from disclosure may still be outweighed by the public interest in disclosure.

Finally, the treatment of confidentiality requests should not be taken as an indication of the manner in which such matters would be dealt with in the future, in different circumstances.

Having regard to the considerations set out above, the information subject to a claim of confidence in the interrogatories listed in Attachment 1 is to be placed on the public record of this proceeding. In each case where full or partial disclosure is to occur, it is considered that the specific direct harm likely to be caused by disclosure would not outweigh the public interest in disclosure.

Accordingly, unless otherwise expressly indicated in Attachment 1, the party in question is to place on the public record all of the information listed in Attachment 1 that was subject to a claim of confidentiality.

Yours sincerely,

Shirley Soehn
Executive Director - Telecommunications

Attachment

c.c.: Céline Ménard, CRTC, (819) 953-2421

DISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

The Companies' evidence

Paragraph 6-61: Provide on the public record the payphone share of the public communications market for the years 1998, 2000 and forecasted 2006.

Paragraph 6-64: Provide on the public record the % decline in Bell Canada's payphone messages.

Paragraph 6-81: Provide on the public record the ratio of outdoor to indoor payphones, which the Companies have already agreed to release.

Paragraph 6-123: Provide on the public record all the information filed in confidence in Table 13.

Paragraph 6-126: Provide on the public record the percentage of Bell's business NAS accounted for in its Band A wire centres.

Paragraph 6-151: Provide the percentage of Bell's toll minutes billed pursuant to the basic toll schedule, which the companies have agreed to release.

Appendix 1 (paragraph A-5 and Figure A-1): Provide on the public record all information filed in confidence in paragraph A-5 and Figure A-1 of Appendix 1 to the Companies' evidence.

The Companies(CRTC)16Mar01-102 and 105

Provide on the public record the unadjusted residence PES unit costs for the years 1997 to 1999 filed in confidence in the response to interrogatory The Companies(CRTC)16Mar01-105, Attachment 1, Table 2, page 11 of 11.

The Companies(CRTC)16Mar01-201

TELUS(CRTC)16Mar01-201

TELUS and the Companies are to provide on the public record the total company-wide average bill for optional Utility segment services and the overall average monthly bill. TELUS is to provide this information for each of Alberta and British Columbia. Note that the Companies have already agreed to provide this information on the public record. Furthermore, the Companies and TELUS were requested to file the average optional Utility segment revenues in high-cost rate bands in Commission interrogatories dated 26 June 2001.

The Companies(CRTC)16Mar01-405

SaskTel(CRTC)16Mar01-405
TELUS(CRTC)16Mar01-405

TELUS and SaskTel are to provide on the public record their split rate base results for 2000 and Utility segment results for 2001. TELUS is to provide this information for each of Alberta and British Columbia. Note that SaskTel has already agreed to provide this information on the public record.

The Companies(CRTC)16Mar01-407

SaskTel(CRTC)16Mar01-407
TELUS(CRTC)16Mar01-407

The Companies and TELUS are to provide for each of the years 1998 to 2001, actual/estimated Utility segment revenues broken down into categories stipulated in the above noted interrogatories. Note that Bell Canada and Aliant Telecom have already agreed to disclose the requested information.

The Companies(CRTC)16Mar01-700

SaskTel(CRTC)16Mar01-700
TELUS(CRTC)16Mar01-700

The Companies and TELUS are to provide on the public record the information requested, which they have already agreed to release. The information to be provided is to be based on the determinations in Restructured bands, revised loop rates and related issues, Decision CRTC 2001-238, 27 April 2001.

The Companies(CRTC)16Mar01-801

TELUS(CRTC)16Mar01-801

The Companies and TELUS are to provide, for each competitor service, the revenues derived from competitors, the total competitor service revenues from competitors and total competitor service revenues from all sources. TELUS is to provide this information

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