ARCHIVED -  Telecom Order CRTC 97-1095

Telecom Order

Ottawa, 11 August 1997

Telecom Order CRTC 97-1095

The Commission received a letter dated 12 December 1996 from AT&T Canada Long Distance Services Company (AT&T Canada LDS) applying for contribution exemption for one Canada-U.S. cross-border trunk group configured exclusively for the transport of dedicated internet/data traffic from the Canadian Canarie network to the vBNS network in the U.S., and which is operated separately from AT&T Canada LDS' voice network. AT&T Canada LDS requested that the contribution exemption be effective the date of the application (12 December 1996).

File No.: 96-2477

1. By letter dated 3 March 1997, AT&T Canada LDS provided its technical audit (confidential) as well as an affidavit by the auditor. AT&T Canada LDS submitted that this audit confirms that the circuits in question meet the eligibility requirements for contribution exemption. AT&T Canada LDS provided an abridged copy of the audit for the public record.

2. By letter dated 7 April 1997, Bell Canada (Bell) agreed that the configuration as described appears to satisfy the requirements for an exemption as a data service. Bell noted, however, that the auditor has not specified if any administrative procedures or controls are in place to prevent or to record any changes to the service configuration which could alter the use of the facilities. Bell noted that the existence of such control procedures is a normal requirement in cases where the arrangements for connection of circuits or routing of calls is in the applicant's control or is determined by the programming of the applicant's switching equipment. Bell submitted that final approval should be subject to confirmation by the applicant that appropriate control procedures are in place to ensure the continued compliance of the configuration with the conditions for exemption. Bell also noted that the Commission may wish to identify that the configuration is one which may be subject to future random audits.

3. By letter dated 17 April 1997, AT&T Canada LDS submitted that the independent audit clearly indicates that the single permanent virtual circuit involved in this application is configured as a variable bit rate channel and, therefore, is not suitable for voice traffic. As a result, AT&T Canada LDS submitted that the auditor's report clearly indicated that the entire bandwidth of the circuit in question is configured to carry data traffic and the circuit in question is segregated from AT&T Canada LDS' voice network.

4. With respect to Bell's submission that the Commission should ensure that adequate controls are in place to ensure the continued compliance of the configuration, AT&T Canada LDS argued that these controls are indeed in effect as described in AT&T Canada - Contribution Accounting and Reporting Practices, Telecom Decision CRTC 97-3, 25 February 1997 (Decision 97-3). As a result, AT&T Canada LDS submitted that random audits as identified by Bell are not required.

5. The Commission is of the view that AT&T Canada LDS has filed a satisfactory technical audit to support an exemption for a dedicated internet/data circuit group.

6. The Commission notes that in Telecom Order CRTC 97-1032, 24 July 1997, it stated that AT&T Canada LDS' control procedures as set out in Unitel Communications Inc. - Contribution Accounting and Reporting Practices, Telecom Decision CRTC 95-18, 24 August 1995, and subsequently in Decision 97-3, demonstrate that similar circuits will be monitored by its Traffic and Measurement Departments both on a daily and monthly basis, in the context of self-reporting to Bell. The Commission is of the view that these control procedures will also satisfy its requirements in this case.

7. Consistent with previous Commission determinations, circuits receiving approval for contribution exemption on the basis of a technical audit (such as the circuits in question) should be subject to the possibility of future random audits.

8. Based on the foregoing, the Commission orders that:

(a) AT&T Canada LDS' application is approved effective the date of application (12 December 1996); and

(b) the configuration is subject to the possibility of future random audits.

Laura M. Talbot-Allan
Secretary General

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