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ARCHIVED -  Telecom Order CRTC 95-757

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Telecom Order

Ottawa, 6 July 1995
Telecom Order CRTC 95-757
IN THE MATTER OF an application by Bell Canada (Bell) under Tariff Notice 5289 (TN 5289), dated 29 August 1994, for approval of a revision to General Tariff Item 24.2(g), to remove the prohibition on the resale and sharing of local services to provide an interexchange (IX) service; and
IN THE MATTER OF an application by Telecommunications Inter-City 2000 Inc. (Inter-City) dated 9 January 1995, requesting Bell to bill public switched telephone network (PSTN) connections separately when different PSTN groups are used by a reseller to separate local and IX traffic; and
IN THE MATTER OF an application by Metrowide Communications (Metrowide) dated 31 March 1995 requesting Bell to cease its practice of charging for PSTN connections as one Virtual Facility Group (VFG).
WHEREAS, in Telecom Order CRTC 94-816 dated 18 July 1994, the Commission directed Bell to file proposed tariff pages that would remove the prohibition on the resale or sharing of local services to provide an interexchange service;
WHEREAS, on 29 August 1994, Bell filed proposed tariff pages under TN 5289 which would remove the restriction and apply contribution charges to all of the reseller or sharing group interconnecting circuits in each of Bell's central offices, regardless of whether they are used for IX purposes;
WHEREAS Bell also proposed wording in General Tariff Item 24.2(g) to reflect that a reseller or sharing group may apply for an exemption from contribution charges for its local-use circuits pursuant to the contribution exemption procedure;
WHEREAS, in Telecom Order CRTC 94-1103 dated 20 September 1994, the Commission approved TN 5289 on an interim basis, effective 30 September 1994;
WHEREAS in its comments of 22 September 1994 on Bell TN 5289, London Telecom submitted that the proposed wording was inappropriate, confusing and likely to lead to disputes regarding its application;
WHEREAS London Telecom submitted that the wording should be changed so that contribution charges would be applied to circuits "used to provide interexchange services";
WHEREAS in its response of 4 October 1994, Bell submitted that there is no confusion about the applicability of contribution charges to the interconnecting circuits under consideration, nor about the applicability of the exemption process;
WHEREAS Bell further noted that every reseller and sharing group using local services is required to make a specific application in order to obtain an exemption from contribution charges for interconnecting circuits used solely to provide a local service;
WHEREAS, in its application of 9 January 1995, Inter-City submitted that it had reconfigured its network taking into account Bell's new Centrex tariffs that were established pursuant to Telecom Order CRTC 93-1141, dated 30 December 1993;
WHEREAS Inter-City submitted that it has separate access configurations for local and IX PSTN traffic such that overflow from one group to another is not allowed and, accordingly, that the charges for its local and IX PSTN circuit groups should be calculated separately rather than on the basis of treating all such connections as a single large circuit group, as is Bell's current practice;
WHEREAS in its answer of 8 February 1995, Bell stated that each PSTN group requires a unique VFG;
WHEREAS Bell stated that its Centrex rate structure was established partly on the basis of call carrying capacity and partly in consideration of there being a single VFG per Centrex system, and that until the demand for multiple VFGs in a Centrex system is established and a unique rate for multiple VFGs is developed, it must apply its tariff as described above;
WHEREAS London Telecom and Metrowide submitted comments in support of the application filed by Inter-City;
WHEREAS, in its 31 March 1995 application, Metrowide requested that the Commission order Bell to cease applying its current billing methodology for Centrex outbound circuits, replace it with a methodology that recognizes distinct traffic routes created in software, and refund Centrex customers for the overcharging of PSTN connections back to the date of implementation of Telecom Order CRTC 94-407, dated 25 April 1994;
WHEREAS, in its 2 May 1995 answer, Bell submitted that although the Centrex rate structure has some size sensitivity which is partially based upon call carrying capacity of particularly sized trunk groups, the Centrex rate structure is not solely based upon this call carrying capacity;
WHEREAS, in cases where a Centrex reseller offers local and IX services over a common circuit group, the Commission finds it appropriate for Bell to employ a single VFG and to apply its Centrex tariffs and contribution charges to each circuit in the single VFG;
WHEREAS the Commission finds that in cases where a Centrex reseller contracts with Bell to set up separate local and IX VFGs and applies for an exemption on the VFG which handles only local calling, Bell can provide carrier verification for the contribution exemption;
WHEREAS, with respect to the latter cases, Bell argued against applying its Centrex tariffs on the basis of two separate VFGs as its rate structure was established partly in consideration of there being a single VFG per Centrex system;
WHEREAS the Commission has ruled in previous situations that if Bell wishes to apply a specific policy to the provisioning of a service, that policy is to be included, as appropriate, in the terms of service, relevant tariff or standard form contract associated with the service;
WHEREAS Bell submitted that it is prepared to provide the service requested by Inter-City and Metrowide, provided that the customer uses two separate Centrex systems;
WHEREAS the Commission finds it appropriate for Bell to provide separate VFGs within a single Centrex system and apply the rates based on separate groups, as it would be inappropriate for a customer to be required to subscribe to more than one Centrex system in order to obtain more than one VFG;
WHEREAS Bell may apply for tariff changes where it considers that the current Centrex rate structure does not adequately recover the cots for establishing separate VFGs within a single Centrex system; and
WHEREAS the Commission is of the view that the wording of General Tariff Item 24.2 (g) should be changed to the following:
The provision of an interexchange service by resellers and sharing groups, using only local services, is subject to the application of contribution charges specified in Item 24.4 (a) (1), applied to each interconnecting circuit within a circuit group of the reseller or sharing group, in each central office. A reseller or sharing group may apply for an exemption from contribution charges pursuant to Item 24.5 (b) -
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1. Bell is directed to file within 15 days proposed tariff revisions reflecting the above revised wording. At the same time, the company may file any submissions it may have as to the appropriateness of this wording.
2. Effective 30 September 1994, Centrex rates for PSTN connections and contribution charges are to be applied based on separate VFG configurations within a single Centrex system.
Allan J. Darling
Secretary General

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