ARCHIVED -  Telecom Public Notice CRTC 96-20

Telecom Public Notice

Ottawa, 23 May 1996

Telecom Public Notice CRTC 96-20

REVIEW OF INTERCORPORATE TRANSACTIONS POLICIES, RULES AND PROCEDURES

On 5 March 1996, Bell Canada (Bell) filed an application pursuant to section 57 of the Telecommunications Act and Part VII of the CRTC Telecommunications Rules of Procedure requesting that the Commission issue an order updating and modifying certain intercorporate transactions policies, rules and procedures established by the Commission, regarding transactions involving Bell or an integral affiliate and other affiliates.

 In its application, Bell noted that intercorporate transaction reporting was introduced at the time of the Bell reorganization to safeguard against revenues and costs being transferred from one part of the BCE family of companies to another, at the expense of monopoly customers and to the detriment of competitors. Bell submitted that with markets opened up to competition and with the implementation of the split rate base regime, the reporting of intercorporate transactions between the Competitive segment and affiliates is now unnecessary.

 In its application, Bell listed the policies, rules and procedures which the company proposed be given narrower scope or, in some cases, eliminated: (a) the tracking of start-up costs, and pre-notifying the Commission regarding transfers of assets or facilities in the context of the creation or transfers of a business as required by Bell Canada - Review of Revenue Requirements for the Years 1985, 1986 and 1987, Telecom Decision CRTC 86-17, 14 October 1986 (Decision 86-17); (b) the criteria established in Bell Canada - Revenue Requirements for 1993 and 1994, Telecom Decision CRTC 93-12, 30 August 1993 (Decision 93-12); (c) the tracking and reporting of development costs for enhanced services established in Enhanced Services, Telecom Decision CRTC 84-18, 12 July 1984, and in Decision 93-12; (d) the periodic intercorporate transactions reporting requirements initiated in the Commission's letter of 7 June 1983 and extended in Decision 86-17; (e) the oversight of the Intercorporate Pricing Policy established in Decision 86-17; (f) the periodic intercorporate transactions reporting relating to Bell Mobility Cellular Inc. established in Cellular Radio - Adequacy of Structural Safeguards, Telecom Decision CRTC 87-13, 23 September 1987; (g) the regulatory requirements with respect to agreements between Bell and Northern Telecom Canada Limited (NTCL) established in Bell Canada - Northern Telecom Price Comparison, Telecom Decision CRTC 84-23, 5 October 1984, and Bell Canada - Northern Telecom Price Comparison, Telecom Decision CRTC 85-3, 13 February 1985; and (h) the reporting requirements for purchase transactions between Bell and affiliates other than NTCL established in Bell Canada - Procedures for Purchases from Affiliates Other than Northern Telecom Canada Limited, Telecom Decision CRTC 90-17, 14 August 1990.

 The Commission initiates a proceeding to consider Bell's application and the related issues of whether: (a) the reporting requirements of the Stentor Resource Centre Inc. (Stentor) member companies should be modified and if so, how; and (b) MTS NetCom Inc. (MTS) and The New Brunswick Telephone Company, Limited (NBTel) should be subject to reporting requirements, and if so, what those reporting requirements should be.

 Procedure

 1. AGT Limited, BC TEL, Bell, The Island Telephone Company Limited, Maritime Tel & Tel Limited, MTS, NBTel and NewTel Communications Inc. (formerly Newfoundland Telephone Company Limited) (the telephone companies) are made parties to this proceeding.

 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 13 June 1996. Parties are to indicate in the notice their Internet email address, where available. If parties do not have access to Internet, they are to indicate in their notice whether they wish to receive disk versions of hard copy filings. The Commission will issue a complete list of parties and their mailing addresses (including Internet email addresses if available), also identifying those parties who wish to receive disk versions.

 3. Bell is directed to serve a copy of its application on all parties by 4 July 1996.

 4. The telephone companies, other than Bell, currently filing Intercorporate Transactions Reports are invited to file proposals for modifying their intercorporate transactions reporting requirements, serving copies on all other parties, by 11 July 1996.

 5. MTS and NBTel are directed to show cause, serving copies on all parties, by 11 July 1996 why they should not be required to file Intercorporate Transactions Reports as currently required to be filed by other Stentor member companies.

 6. MTS and NBTel are invited to file proposed Intercorporate Transactions Reporting procedures which, in their view, would be appropriate in the event the Commission were to determine that these companies should be subject to reporting requirements, serving copies on all parties, by 11 July 1996.

 7. Parties may file comments on Bell's application and/or the matters referred to in paragraphs 4 to 6, serving copies on all other parties, by 8 August 1996.

 8. Parties may file reply comments, serving copies on all other parties, by 22 August 1996.

 9. 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.

 10. In addition to hard copy filings, parties are encouraged to file with the Commission electronic versions of their submissions in accordance with the Commission's Interim Telecom Guidelines for the Handling of Machine-Readable Files, dated 30 November 1995. The Commission's Internet email address for electronically filed documents is public.telecom@crtc.x400.gc.ca. Electronically filed documents can be accessed at the Commission's Internet site at http://www.crtc.gc.ca.

 Allan J. Darling
 Secretary General

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