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Telecom Order
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Ottawa, 27 July 1994
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Telecom Order CRTC 94-876
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IN THE MATTER OF an application by fONOROLA Inc. (fONOROLA), dated 2 February 1994, pursuant to Part VII of the CRTC Telecommunications Rules of Procedure related to practices by BC TEL concerning the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) sharing group;
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IN THE MATTER OF a request by Netlinks Telecom Inc. (Netlinks), dated 3 February 1994, to clarify whether sharing groups arranged by the Manitoba Telephone System (MTS) involving the Manitoba Trucking Association (MTA) and the Manitoba Motor Dealers Association (MMDA) conform to Sharing Groups, Telecom Letter Decision CRTC 93-13, 19 August 1993, (Letter Decision 93-13); and
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IN THE MATTER OF a complaint by Gabriola Telephone Company (Gabriola), a sharing group on Gabriola Island, concerning a dispute with BC TEL related to the provision of billing information.
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WHEREAS, in Resale and Sharing of Private Line Service, Telecom Decision CRTC 90-3, 1 March 1990, (Decision 90-3), the Commission noted the benefits associated with resale and sharing and concluded that resale and sharing would be in the public interest;
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WHEREAS Decision 90-3 established the rules applicable for the resale and sharing of Message Toll Services and of private lines;
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WHEREAS, in Telecom Decision CRTC 92-12, Competition in the Provision of Public Long Distance Voice Telephone Services and Related Resale and Sharing Issues, 12 June 1992, the Commission fully liberalized the resale and sharing of public long distance voice telephone services;
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WHEREAS, in Letter Decision 93-13, the Commission stated that any telecommunications service may be shared or resold unless specifically prohibited by the tariff;
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WHEREAS, in Letter Decision 93-13, the Commission found it appropriate that resellers and sharing groups be in an identical position in terms of their relationship to the telephone company providing services and facilities;
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WHEREAS, in Letter Decision 93-13, the Commission stated that both resellers and sharing groups should be treated by the telephone companies as a single customer for the purposes of billing, collection and liabilities for services rendered;
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WHEREAS, in Letter Decision 93-13, the Commission stated that the sharing group, rather than the individual member, is the customer of the telephone company, and that telephone companies must bill directly an administrator of the sharing group, who in turn is responsible for the billing and collection from group members;
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WHEREAS these rules were confirmed in Applications re Telecom Letter Decision 93-13, Telecom Letter Decision CRTC 93-15, 22 October 1993, (Letter Decision 93-15) and Sharing Groups, Telecom Decision CRTC 94-12, 8 July 1994, (Decision 94-12);
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WHEREAS BC TEL has formed a sharing group for the BCREA, and BC TEL bills and collects directly from sharing group members;
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WHEREAS BC TEL charges group members a monthly fee for billing and collection;
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WHEREAS fONOROLA has alleged that the arrangements for the BCREA sharing group are contrary to Letter Decision 93-13, because BC TEL is acting as the billing agent for each member of the sharing group, and contrary to BC TEL's Advantage Preferred tariff in respect of minimum billing per account and minimum service periods;
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WHEREAS Unitel Communications Inc. (Unitel) stated that BC TEL is offering services for which there is no tariff to sharing groups, in violation of section 25 of the Telecommunications Act;
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WHEREAS Sprint Canada Inc. (Sprint Canada) generally supported fONOROLA, and stated that, by billing and collecting on behalf of the BCREA, BC TEL is extending to BCREA group members an undue preference relative to resellers and their customers;
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WHEREAS, in Letter Decision 93-13, the Commission stated the then proposed "'Retail Advantage Plus' would permit individual members of a sharing group to take advantage of bulk discounts without meeting the otherwise applicable usage criteria and without effecting a material change in their relationship to the telephone company";
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WHEREAS BC TEL stated that by charging a monthly fee for billing and collection, there has been a change in the relation between the subscribers and the telephone company sufficient to conform to Letter Decision 93-13;
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WHEREAS MTS proposed sharing groups for the MTA and the MMDA, and proposed to bill and collect directly from group members;
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WHEREAS MTS proposed to charge group members a yearly fee of $ 36 for billing and collection services provided by MTS;
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WHEREAS MTS proposed to provide insurance for unpaid toll bills of MTA sharing group members;
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WHEREAS MTS proposed to pay a commission of 3% of member toll revenue to the MTA;
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WHEREAS MTS stated that by charging an annual fee for billing and collection there has been a change in the relationship between group members and the telephone company sufficient to conform to Letter Decision 93-13;
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WHEREAS MTS indicated that it wishes to comply with the Commission's requirements for sharing groups as set out in Letter Decision 93-13 and Letter Decision 93-15;
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WHEREAS Netlinks enquired of MTS and the Commission as to whether the arrangements proposed for the MMDA and MTA sharing groups comply in all respects with Letter Decision 93-13;
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WHEREAS Unitel and Sprint Canada commented that MTS is providing services without an approved tariff, and thus extending an undue preference to group members;
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WHEREAS Gabriola wished to share Advantage Preferred Service amongst its members, and requested that BC TEL make available sufficient billing detail to enable Gabriola to collect long distance bills from group members;
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WHEREAS BC TEL stated that it cannot release the requested data to Gabriola without also releasing confidential subscriber information relating to other telecommunications services obtained by Gabriola's customers;
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WHEREAS Gabriola stated that privacy of confidential information is not a concern, because it has the written consent of group members to act on their behalf;
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WHEREAS the Commission has concluded that the BCREA, MTA and MMDA sharing groups are not in compliance with Letter Decision 93-13, to the extent that the billing and collection from sharing group members is not done by the sharing group administrator but by the telephone company;
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WHEREAS the Commission considers that the payment of a monthly or annual fee for billing and collection does not represent a sufficient change in the relationship between the telephone company and a subscriber, because subscribers continue to receive a bill from the telephone company for services purchased through the sharing group and, moreover, at least in the case of the Manitoba sharing groups, the telephone company would assume the risk of unpaid accounts;
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WHEREAS the Commission finds that by providing billing and collection services, and/or liability insurance to sharing group members without an approved tariff, BC TEL and MTS are providing a telecommunications service in contravention of section 25 of the Telecommunications Act, and are extending an undue preference to sharing group members relative to resellers and their customers;
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WHEREAS the Commission finds that the billing detail provided by BC TEL and MTS to sharing group members may exceed the per account billing specified in the Advantage tariff, and that billing at a more detailed level than specified in the Advantage tariff would extend an undue preference to customers of sharing groups as compared to customers of resellers, and subscribers generally;
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WHEREAS payment of the proposed 3 % commission by MTS to MTA could be considered to result in the provision of a telecommunications service at less than its tariffed rate, in violation of section 25 of the Telecommunications Act; and
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WHEREAS the Commission finds that Gabriola has requested billing information at a level of detail that is not available pursuant to the Advantage tariff -
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IT IS ORDERED THAT:
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1. BC TEL cease, within thirty days from the date of this Order, direct billing of, and collection from, BCREA sharing group members.
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2. MTS shall not bill and collect directly from MTA and MMDA members.
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3. BC TEL and MTS shall not provide to sharing groups any services that are not specified in their respective tariffs.
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4. BC TEL and MTS shall comply with the rules governing sharing groups as set out in Decision 94-12.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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