ARCHIVED - Telecom Order CRTC 95-1350
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Telecom Order |
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Ottawa, 11 December 1995
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Telecom Order CRTC 95-1350
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IN THE MATTER OF an application by Posicom Inc. (Posicom) dated 9 June 1995, pursuant to Part VII of the CRTC Telecommunications Rules of Procedure against Bell Canada (Bell), and other telephone companies, namely AGT Limited, BC TEL, The Island Telephone Company Limited, Manitoba Telephone System, Maritime Tel & Tel Limited, The New Brunswick Telephone Company, Limited and Newfoundland Telephone Company Limited ("the other telephone companies") and Stentor Canadian Network Management (Stentor).
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WHEREAS Posicom is the administrator of a sharing group and has stated that it complies with all sharing group rules;
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WHEREAS, with respect to Advantage 800 GOLD service, Posicom requested an order directing "the other telephone companies" to begin processing, within 30 days of the date of the Order, requests for Advantage 800 GOLD service that have been presented since 23 June 1994 to Bell, in its own right and on behalf of the other federally regulated Stentor member companies, and to implement the Advantage 800 GOLD service orders requested on 23 June 1994 to the sharing group within 30 days of the Order;
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WHEREAS Posicom stated that it requested Advantage 800 GOLD service from Stentor on 23 June 1994, but that Bell did not begin processing orders for Advantage 800 GOLD service until 1 January 1995, and that "the other telephone companies" as yet do not supply Advantage 800 GOLD service to Posicom;
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WHEREAS Stentor stated that discussions are needed to reconcile expectations about ownership of 800 numbers in a sharing group context;
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WHEREAS the Commission in several decisions has determined that the sharing group is considered the customer of the telephone company, and that therefore the Commission considers that the sharing group may acquire a claim to continued use of an 800 number on the same terms as for any other customer of a telephone company;
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WHEREAS the Commission is of the view that the question of whether a sharing group member may retain an 800 number upon leaving the sharing group is not a relevant issue in this proceeding;
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WHEREAS Posicom requested that the Commission order "the other telephone companies" to credit the sharing group for the financial benefit that sharing group members would have obtained if "the other telephone companies" had provided Advantage 800 GOLD service as requested;
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WHERAS Posicom requested that the credits should be calculated based on the difference between the Advantage 800 and the Advantage 800 GOLD rates, that there should be adjustments for applicable taxes and that interest at 1.5% per month should be applied to the credited amount;
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WHEREAS the Commission is of the view that, since the sharing group receiving Advantage 800 service has been paying a higher price than the price of Advantage 800 GOLD service that the group is entitled to receive, the group has been overpaying the telephone company, and that the interest rate for such overpayment is specified in the telephone companies' Terms of Service;
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WHEREAS the Commission notes that if Posicom and Stentor are unable to resolve their differences with respect to credits due, the dispute about credits could be resolved by the Commission;
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WHEREAS Posicom alleged that Stentor's practices have led to an erosion of the sharing group membership, loss of business, and of opportunity to act as the sharing group administrator;
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WHEREAS Posicom requested permission, under section 72 of the Telecommunications Act, to take legal action against Bell and Stentor;
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WHEREAS the Commission notes that in the case of civil litigation pursuant to section 72 of the Telecommunications Act, Commission consent is not required;
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WHEREAS with respect to Advantage Vnet Service, Posicom requested an order directing Bell and "the other telephone companies" to begin implementation of Advantage Vnet Service requests presented within 30 days of the Order be implemented within 120 days of the Order;
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WHEREAS Posicom alleged that Stentor would not enter into a contract for Advantage Vnet Service unless Posicom were to sign a new agreement with Stentor;
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WHEREAS Stentor responded by stating that the existing sharing group agreement with Posicom deals only with Advantage Preferred and Advantage GOLD services, and stated that a new agreement is required to cover Advantage Vnet Service;
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WHEREAS Stentor offered to supply Advantage Vnet Service on the new agreement has been signed;
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WHEREAS neither Posicom nor Stentor have filed with the Commission a copy of the agreement in question;
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WHEREAS the Commission notes that sharing groups and rebillers are required to sign agreements with the Stentor companies, and that the Commission has approved form agreements;
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WHEREAS, with respect to Bell's sales practices, Posicom requested that the Commission order Bell to cease certain sales practices, to undertake steps to ensure that these practices are not repeated, and to report within 90 days of the Order on the actions taken by Bell in this regard;
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WHEREAS Bell accepted Posicom's allegations and outlined the steps it has taken to prevent re-occurrence of such practices;
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WHEREAS Posicom was satisfied with the steps outlined in Bell's response, and dropped this aspect of its application; and
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WHEREAS the Commission has the view that no further action by the Commission is required in this regard -
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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
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1. "The other telephone companies" implement the Advantage 800 GOLD service orders requested on behalf of Posicom members since 23 June 1994, within 30 days of the date of this Order, and that any additional Advantage GOLD service orders presented within 30 days of this Order be implemented within 60 days of this Order.
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2. "The other telephone companies" give credits to Posicom, to the date when service normally would have been implemented, and that such credits should be adjusted for taxes and interest, as specified in the telephone companies' Terms of Service.
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3. Either party may request that the Commission determine the credit amounts if Stentor and Posicom are unable to agree on the amounts within 45 days from the date of this Order, in which case the party shall copy the other party.
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4. Bell and "the other telephone companies" begin implementation of existing requests for Advantage Vnet Service to Posicom within 30 days of the date of this Order, and that any additional Advantage Vnet requests presented within 30 days of the Order be implemented within 120 days of this Order.
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5. That within two weeks of the date of this Order, parties notify the Commission that they have entered into an agreement for the sharing group to receive Advantage Vnet Service, or, that Stentor file its proposed agreement with the Commission, serving a copy on Posicom.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General |
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- Date modified: