ARCHIVED -  Telecom Public Notice CRTC 96-32

Telecom Public Notice

Ottawa, 24 September 1996

Telecom Public Notice CRTC 96-32

NEWTEL COMMUNICATIONS INC. - TARIFF REVISIONS PROVIDING FOR A RESTRUCTURING OF THE COMPANY'S PRIMARY EXCHANGE SERVICE

References: Tariff Notices 483 and 486

The Commission has received applications from NewTel Communications Inc. (NewTel) under Tariff Notices 483 and 486, dated 24 July 1996, for approval of tariff revisions providing for a restructuring of primary exchange service.

In its applications, NewTel proposes to (1) compress its existing primary exchange service rates from five rate groups to one rate group for residence customers and from three rate groups to two rate groups for business customers, effective 1 July 1998, (2) increase, for residence customers, the individual line service rate to $15.45 per month and the two-party line rate to $12.90 per month as of 1 July 1998, and (3) no longer offer Extended Area Service but, to offer a new service called Community Calling Plan (CCP) providing for expanded local calling areas. CCP service would be subject to the availability of suitable facilities and the agreement of at least 60% of the customers whose rates would increase.

Procedure

1. The applications may be examined at any of NewTel's business offices or at the offices of the CRTC in the following locations:

Central Building
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
1 Promenade du Portage
Room 201
Hull, Quebec

Bank of Commerce Building
1809 Barrington Street
Suite 1007
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Copies of NewTel's applications may be obtained by any interested person upon request directed to Mr. Edmund H. Burry, Manager Regulatory Affairs and Policy, NewTel Communications Inc., Fort William Building, Box 2110, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1C 5H6.

2. Subject to paragraph 3 below, parties wishing to participate in the 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 24 October 1996. The Commission will issue a complete list of parties and their mailing addresses.

3. Parties wishing to limit their participation in this proceeding to the filing of comments with the Commission may do so (serving a copy on NewTel) by a date to be established by the Commission as part of the directions on further procedure referred to in paragraph 8 below and need not provide the Commission with the notification referred to in paragraph 2. These comments, including those received by the Commission prior to this Public Notice, will form part of the record of this proceeding.

4. Parties may address interrogatories to NewTel. Any such interrogatories must be filed with the Commission and served on NewTel by 24 October 1996.

5. Responses to interrogatories are to be filed with the Commission and served on all parties by 25 November 1996.

6. Requests by parties for further responses to their interrogatories, specifying, in each case, why a further response is both relevant and necessary, and requests for public disclosure of information for which confidentiality has been claimed, setting out the reasons for disclosure, must be filed with the Commission, and served on NewTel, by 2 December 1996.

7. NewTel may file replies to requests for further responses and to requests for public disclosure, serving a copy on the party making the request by 9 December 1996.

8. The Commission will issue directions on further procedure when it issues its determination with respect to requests for further responses and for disclosure.

9. When a document is to be filed 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.

11. The Commission expects to render its decision with respect to this application by the first quarter of 1997.

Allan J. Darling
Secretary General

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