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Telecom Order
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Ottawa, 30 December 1993
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Telecom Order CRTC 93-1141
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IN THE MATTER OF an application by Bell Canada (Bell) under Tariff Notice 4848 dated 12 July 1993, as amended by Tariff Notice 4848A dated 13 September 1993, for approval of tariff revisions pertaining to Centrex III Service (Centrex) and Enhanced Exchange Wide Dial Service (EEWD) in the Ottawa-Hull exchange.
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WHEREAS these applications were filed pursuant to Telecom Order CRTC 93-405 dated 21 May 1993 (Order 93-405);
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WHEREAS Bell proposed revisions affecting access to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) from Centrex and EEWD and access to Centrex and EEWD using Direct Inward System Access (DISA) paths consistent with the Commission's directive in Order 93-405;
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WHEREAS the Commission received submissions from la Ville de Montréal, la Communauté urbaine de Montréal, National Centrex Users Group, Quebec Centrex Users Group, Centrex Resale Group (CRG), City Dial Network Services Ltd., Télécommunications Inter-Cité 2000 Inc. (Inter-Cité), Canadian National, The Canadian Bankers Association, Canadian Business Telecommunications Alliance, Canadian Telephone & Telegraph, Metro-Wide Communications (Metro-Wide), London Telecom and Simcoe County Long Distance Corporation;
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WHEREAS, in Tariff Notice 4848, Bell proposed to introduce a charge for each PSTN connection provided to Centrex customers that would vary by rate group and by the number of connections, and to restructure the rates for Centrex III, National Centrex, Integrated Centrex III voice channels and Microlink accesses;
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WHEREAS Bell also proposed that contribution charges as specified in Competition in the Provision of Public Long Distance Voice Telephone Services and Related Resale and Sharing Issues, Telecom Decision CRTC 92-12, 12 June 1992 (Decision 92-12) be applied to each DISA path and each PSTN connection;
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WHEREAS several interveners argued that the proposed rate structure selectively discriminates against resellers and large Centrex users who would experience significant increases to their PSTN access costs and in favour of small Centrex customers who would experience little rate change;
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WHEREAS Bell stated that its proposals have been designed to minimize the customer impacts of unbundling PSTN access from Centrex III Service and at the same time recognize the need to maintain appropriate price positioning for Centrex rates with respect to alternatives in the market;
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WHEREAS several interveners argued that Tariff Notice 4848 is non-compliant with Order 93-405;
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WHEREAS Bell submitted that Order 93-405 allowed for the filing of a complete rate package for Centrex Service and that the company has attempted to comply with the directives contained in the Order to unbundle the Enhanced Feature Package (EFP) and Centrex local rate while also attempting to minimize the rate impacts on existing customers;
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WHEREAS the Commission concurs with Bell's position that Order 93-405 allowed for the filing of a complete Centrex rate package;
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WHEREAS, in Order 93-405, the Commission found that the proposed rates were anti-competitive and discriminatory, in that their levels were excessive and would in large part only apply to resellers, and thus directed the company to file tariff revisions that apply equally to all Centrex users;
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WHEREAS the Commission is of the view that Bell's proposed approach for the establishment of rates for PSTN connections is acceptable;
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WHEREAS the Commission is satisfied that the proposed rates are just and reasonable and do not unjustly discriminate;
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WHEREAS several parties argued that the proposed rate for DISA telephone numbers is too high;
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WHEREAS the Commission considers that Bell's proposal in Tariff Notice 4848 represents an unbundling of the Enhanced Feature Package that would enable customers to choose any combination of DISA paths, DISA telephone numbers and authorization codes;
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WHEREAS the Commission finds the proposed rates for DISA features to be just and reasonable;
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WHEREAS Inter-Cité and others alleged that an EEWD rate that includes DISA telephone numbers confers an undue preference on an EEWD customer and accordingly stated that Bell should be directed to unbundle the DISA telephone number from the EEWD line rate;
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WHEREAS Metro-Wide and other parties argued that the rates in the EEWD tariffs have not been justified with respect to the Centrex III tariffs;
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WHEREAS, in the Commission's view, Bell has not demonstrated why the DISA feature in the EEWD should not be completely unbundled;
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WHEREAS, in all other respects, the Commission finds the proposed EEWD rates to be just and reasonable;
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WHEREAS, in Order 93-405, the Commission expressed the view that the contribution charges specified in Decision 92-12 should apply to PSTN connections and DISA paths in the same manner as they now apply to PBX trunks;
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WHEREAS the Commission considers that Bell's proposed tariff revisions are consistent with this view;
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WHEREAS certain parties argued that where these PSTN connections are used to provide access to cellular, radio paging and other networks and systems, they should not be considered PSTN accesses and accordingly should not attract contribution charges;
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WHEREAS the Commission is of the view that any access to the local PSTN should attract contribution charges unless it qualifies for exemption pursuant to Decision
92-12;
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WHEREAS the Commission considers that Decision 92-12 and Applications for Contribution Exemptions, Telecom Decision CRTC 93-2, 1 April 1993 (Decision 93-2) set out the evidentiary requirements to be met by resellers in applications for contribution exemptions, and that the general framework set out in Decision 93-2 is equally applicable in dealing with applications from Centrex resellers; and
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WHEREAS the Commission finds acceptable the company's implementation proposal as set out in its letter of 31 August 1993 -
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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
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1. The proposed tariff revisions filed by Bell under Tariff Notice 4848, as amended by Tariff Notice 4848A, are approved with an effective date of 30 March 1994, with the exception of the proposed EEWD tariffs.
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2. Bell is directed, by 14 January 1994, to file proposed tariff revisions that would unbundle the DISA telephone number rate from the EEWD rate, or to show cause why its tariffs should not be so revised.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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