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Ottawa, 11 January 1993
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Telecom Public Notice CRTC 93-3
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B.C. TEL - EXPANSION OF TOLL-FREE CALLING AND RESTRUCTURING OF LOCAL RATES IN THE LOWER MAINLAND
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Reference: Tariff Notice 2776
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The Commission has received an application from British Columbia Telephone Company (B.C. Tel), dated 22 December 1992, for approval of tariff revisions providing for the expansion of local calling and changes to the local rate structure in the Lower Mainland, defined by the company as comprising the 21 exchanges from Bowen Island in the west to Abbotsford and Mission in the east and from the international border in the south to the boundary of the Coastal Mountains in the north.
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B.C. Tel's proposed expanded local calling area would replace existing Extended Area Service (EAS) links and would provide toll-free calling throughout the Lower Mainland. Three existing one-way
toll-free calling routes would be converted to two-way routes, and 117 new two-way routes would be added to the 90 that already exist.
The current local rate structure would be replaced with a simplified structure based on four zones, with local rates varying according to zone. B.C. Tel's proposal does not affect local rates or EAS for exchanges outside the Lower Mainland.
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B.C. Tel states that all the costs associated with the creation of the common local calling area, including foregone toll revenues, would be recovered through its proposed rates. The company further states that implementation of its proposal would not result in any increase in its average net income over the study period of 5 years and 2 months.
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In support of its application, B.C. Tel has submitted an economic evaluation study for which it has claimed confidentiality. An abridged version has been provided for the public record.
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Procedure
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1. The mailing addresses to be used in connection with this proceeding are:
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Mr. Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
CRTC
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0N2
Fax: (819) 953-0795
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Mr. Robert F. Stuart
Director
Regulatory Matters
British Columbia Telephone Company
18th Floor
3777 Kingsway
Burnaby, British Columbia
V5H 3Z7
Fax: (604) 430-9653
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2. B.C. Tel's application may 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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Room 201
Central Building
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
1 Promenade du Portage
Hull, Quebec
K1A 0N2
Tel. (819) 997-2429
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Suite 1380
800 Burrard Street
P.O. Box 1300
Vancouver, British Columbia.
V6Z 2G7
Tel. (604) 666-2111
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A copy of B.C. Tel's application may be obtained by any interested person upon request directed to the company at the address noted in paragraph 1.
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3. Persons wishing to participate fully in this proceeding (interveners), addressing interrogatories and receiving copies of all documentation to be filed in the proceeding, must file a notice of intention to participate with the Commission, serving a copy on the company, by 1 February 1993. The Commission will issue a complete list of parties and their mailing addresses.
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Persons who wish merely to comment on the application, without addressing interrogatories or receiving copies of various filings, may do so by writing to the Commission at the address noted in paragraph 1 by 15 March 1993. A copy of any such comments is to be served on B.C. Tel by the same date.
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4. Interveners may address interrogatories to B.C. Tel. Any such interrogatories are to be filed with the Commission and served on B.C. Tel by 1 February 1993. The Commission will also address interrogatories to the company by that date.
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5. B.C. Tel is to file responses to all interrogatories with the Commission, serving copies on interveners, by 1 March 1993.
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6. Requests by interveners for further responses to their interrogatories, specifying in each case why a further response is both relevant and necessary, and requests for public disclosure of information for which confidentiality has been claimed, setting out the reasons for disclosure, must be filed with the Commission and served on B.C. Tel by 8 March 1993.
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7. Replies to requests for further responses and for public disclosure must be filed with the Commission and served on the intervener making the request by 12 March 1993.
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8. The Commission will issue a decision with respect to requests for disclosure and for further responses as soon as possible. The Commission intends to direct B.C. Tel to file any material required by that decision, serving copies on interveners, by 22 March 1992.
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9. A public hearing in connection with B.C. Tel's proposal will be held in two phases: the first to permit members of the public to make oral submissions and the second to allow interveners to cross-examine the company on its proposal. The hearing is tentatively scheduled to commence on 24 March 1993, at 9:00 a.m., in the Waterfront Centre Hotel, 900 Canada Place Way, Vancouver, British Columbia. Persons or organizations who wish to make oral submissions during the first phase of the hearing are to register by calling or writing, no later than 15 March 1993, to the Commission's offices in either of the locations noted in paragraph 2.
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10. Interveners may file written final argument with the Commission, serving copies on B.C. Tel, by 16 April 1993.
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11. B.C. Tel may file reply argument, serving copies on interveners, by 3 May 1993.
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12. Where a document is to be filed or served by a specific date, the document must be actually received, not merely mailed, by that date.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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