ARCHIVED - Telecom Public Notice CRTC 95-54
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Telecom Public Notice |
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Ottawa, 13 December 1995
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Telecom Public Notice CRTC 95-54
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DEFINITION OF CUSTOMER IN THE GENERAL TARIFFS OF THE TELEPHONE COMPANIES
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BACKGROUND
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The Commission received an application from British Columbia Systems Corporation (BCS), dated 22 March 1995, requesting relief from the payment of contribution charges assessed on telecommunications services and facilities leased from BC TEL.
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BCS stated that it is an agent of the Crown in right of the Province of British Columbia, for the purpose of establishing and implementing policies for the consolidation and rationalization of data processing services provided to government entities.
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In its application, BCS submitted that
BC TEL's claim for contribution was based on its view that BCS has violated its status as a "customer", as defined in BC TEL's General Tariff, and has in effect become a reseller or sharing group because it has permitted entities, that would not qualify as part of the Government of British Columbia, access to its network. |
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BC TEL's existing General Tariff defines "customer" as follows:
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"An individual or entity contracting for any form of service furnished by the Company and insofar as the use of a service is concerned, an authorized user.î
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The Commission also received an application from Bell Canada (Bell), under Tariff Notice 5523, dated 27 June 1995, for approval of tariff revisions providing for a new definition of "customer", to replace the existing definition in Item 20 of its General Tariff.
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In its application, Bell noted that the existing definition of "customer" varies considerably among the General Tariffs of the telephone companies represented by Stentor Resource Centre Inc. (Stentor). Bell proposed that a common definition be approved by the Commission for all Stentor companies.
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Bell stated that a lack of uniformity in the definition of "customer" has made it difficult for the Stentor companies to provide consistent treatment to customers having accounts with more than one of the Stentor companies.
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The Commission denied Bell's application in Telecom Order CRTC 95-951, 31 August 1995, indicating that Bell's proposed definition was too broad and did not sufficiently clarify what constitutes a "customer".
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As a result, the Commission is initiating a proceeding to consider what definition or definitions of "customer" would be appropriate.
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More specifically, the Commission seeks comment on:
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(1) what definition(s) of "customer" would be appropriate for the General Tariffs of Commission regulated telephone companies, having regard to the need for a clear distinction between single customers, resellers and sharing groups (with supporting reasons and details of any proposed alternatives); and
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(2) whether there should be a common definition of "customer" in the General Tariffs of the telephone companies regulated by the Commission (with supporting reasons).
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In light of the above, the Commission defers its determination with respect to BCS's application pending the outcome of the proceeding initiated by this Public Notice.
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PROCEDURE
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1. All telephone companies regulated by the Commission, as well as BCS, are made parties to this proceeding.
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2. Other persons wishing to participate in this proceeding must notify the Commission of their intention to do so by writing to
Mr. Allan J. Darling, Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N2, fax: (819) 953-0795, by 17 January 1996. The Commission will issue a complete list of parties and their mailing addresses. |
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3. Parties may file comments on the issues identified above and any other issues that they may wish to raise, serving copies on all other parties by 31 January 1996.
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4. Parties may file replies to any comments, serving copies on all other parties, by 21 February 1996.
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5. 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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AVI95-54_0
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