ARCHIVED -  Telecom Order CRTC 95-750

Telecom Order

Ottawa, 4 July 1995

Telecom Order CRTC 95-750

IN THE MATTER OF applications by AGT Limited (AGT) under Tariff Notice 558 dated 11 October 1994, BC TEL under Tariff Notice 3188 dated 30 September 1994, Bell Canada (Bell) under Tariff Notice 5326 dated 30 September 1994, The Island Telephone Company Limited under Tariff Notice 355 dated 3 October 1994, Maritime Tel & Tel Limited under Tariff Notice 497 dated 3 October 1994, The New Brunswick Telephone Company, Limited under Tariff Notice 412 dated 30 September 1994 and Newfoundland Telephone Company Limited under Tariff Notice 406 dated 14 October 1994 (collectively, the telephone companies), for approval of tariff revisions extending the method by which Alternate Providers of Long Distance Services (APLDS) can establish CCS7 links to the Stentor gateway Signalling Transfer Points (STPs).

WHEREAS this new service allows APLDS to establish CCS7 links between their switches and the Stentor gateway STPs (Switch-to-STP connections) to carry CCS7 signalling information for the purpose of call set-up and call take-down;

WHEREAS the companies have proposed rates associated with CCS7 links that would recover the costs of connecting APLDS to the Stentor gateway STPs as well as the costs associated with operations and translations;

WHEREAS, by letter dated 17 October 1994, ACC Long Distance Ltd. (ACC) requested that the Commission approve Bell's proposed tariff as expeditiously as possible;

WHEREAS, in Telecom Order CRTC 94-1281 dated 2 November 1994 (Order 94-1281), the Commission granted interim approval to the applications and stated that final rates would be applied back to the date of Order 94-1281 and any necessary adjustments made;

WHEREAS, on 14 November 1994, the Commission issued Tariff Revisions to Provide Links to Signalling Transfer Points, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 94-54;

WHEREAS the Commission received comments from Sprint Canada Inc. (Sprint) and Unitel Communications Inc. (Unitel) dated 14 December 1994, reply comments from Stentor Resource Centre Inc. (Stentor) on behalf of the telephone companies on 23 December 1994, and answers from Stentor to additional questions posed by the Commission to Bell and AGT for clarification purposes on 3 February 1995;

WHEREAS ACC questioned Bell's justification for a mark-up over the recovery of costs for the service and requested a 4% reduction in the contribution charge component for a four month period due to Bell's delay in filing the tariff;

WHEREAS Sprint submitted that Stentor's proposed tariff charges are excessive, and are not reflective of the nature of the activities required to provision Switch-to-STP connections, and ultimately create a significant barrier and disincentive for competitors to convert their networks to CCS7;

WHEREAS, in its reply of 27 October 1994, Bell stated that four months to develop the Switch-to-STP connections service was reasonable and noted that bilateral negotiations outlining the technical interface of Switch-to-STP connections had been ongoing since ACC's request of 20 May 1994;

WHEREAS the Commission considers that the Stentor member companies have filed proposed tariffs for the service within a reasonable time;

WHEREAS Bell also stated that a mark-up is justified as switch to STP CCS7 connectivity could be offered by other IXCs which have their own CCS7 networks;

WHEREAS, on the basis of the record of this proceeding, the Commission considers that rates for Switch-to-STP connections should not include a mark-up;

WHEREAS the Commission notes that Bell's cost for the Switch-to-STP connection is identical to Bell's cost provided for the bottleneck STP-to-STP connection service in the proceeding announced in Equal Access, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 94-26, 24 May 1994;

WHEREAS the Commission considers that rates for the service should be set at cost and be applied back to the date of Order 94-1281;

WHEREAS given the relationship between the Switch-to-STP connection service cost and the cost for an STP-to-STP service connection, the latter of which is being considered in the Equal Access proceeding, the Commission is of the view that rates should remain interim;

WHEREAS, in its comments, Unitel requested that the tariff wording relating to additional IXC requests be changed as the statement that "an additional charge based upon the expense incurred to meet the IXC request" contravened section 25 of the Telecommunications Act since no specific amount is approved by the Commission;

WHEREAS Stentor replied that the proposed wording is appropriate in light of the considerable variation in the nature and magnitude of the activities that may be associated with subsequent additions or changes to APLDS' CCS7 connections;

WHEREAS, in such cases, the Commission considers that the companies should file proposed SFTs reflecting an amount based on estimated time and cost;

WHEREAS, on 30 March 1995, Sprint requested clarification as to whether Bell Tariff Notice 5326 also applies to two carriers seeking CCS7 connectivity through Stentor's STP gateways or whether, as claimed by Stentor, this tariff applies only to Switch-to-STP CCS7 interconnection between a Stentor member and an alternative carrier;

WHEREAS Sprint indicated that it is currently negotiating an interconnection agreement with ED TEL Communications Inc. (ED TEL) in order to provide 1+ and 800 services in that territory and that, as part of the agreement, Sprint has requested CCS7 interconnection to ED TEL via Stentor's STP gateway;

WHEREAS Bell noted that the tariffs clearly stipulate that the Switch-to-STP connections permitted by the tariffs are not for the purpose of carrying CCS7 signalling information in support of direct interconnecting circuits between non-Stentor companies;

WHEREAS Stentor stated that Sprint is not precluded from negotiating and establishing direct CCS7 links to ED TEL or any other independent local carrier consistent with the Commission's directions in Telecom Decision CRTC 92-12;

WHEREAS in its comments of 27 April 1995 ED TEL submitted that, given Stentor's position and Sprint's requirement, it was prepared to provide Sprint with access to the ED TEL STPs on an ongoing basis and that it would develop and propose tariffs for this service; and

WHEREAS, with respect to ED TEL's filing of proposed tariffs, the Commission notes that its directives in Telecom Letter Decision CRTC 94-11, dated 4 November 1994, require the telephone companies to file proposed tariffs within 90 days of requests from APLDS for bottleneck services -

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:

1. The companies are directed to issue forthwith revised tariff pages with interim rates set at cost.

2. The companies are directed to apply the interim rates back to the date of Order 94-1281.

3. The companies are directed to file proposed SFTs reflecting an amount based on estimated time and cost, for APLDS' requests that result in considerable variation in the nature and magnitude of the activities that may be associated with subsequent additions or changes to APLDS' connections.

Allan J. Darling
Secretary General