ARCHIVED -  Telecom Order CRTC 97-1353

Telecom Order

Ottawa, 24 September 1997

Telecom Order CRTC 97-1353

On 20 June 1997, Bell Canada (Bell) filed Tariff Notice (TN) 6033 proposing a revision to the company's General Tariff, Item 24 - Resale and Sharing, pursuant to the Commission's directives contained in paragraph 26(c) of Telecom Order CRTC 97-668 (Order 97-668) dated 21 May 1997. Bell's filing would expand the current definition of interconnecting circuit in its tariffs by identifying a fifth interconnecting arrangement that would attract contribution charges.

File No.: TN 6033

1. The fifth interconnecting arrangement identified by Bell would apply contribution charges to a circuit between a reseller's or sharing group's Centrex service and another reseller's or sharing group's switch, where the locals of the Centrex are configured to redirect to that interconnecting circuit traffic received from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

2. Comments were received from AT&T Canada Long Distance Services Company (AT&T Canada LDS) dated 9 July 1997, ACC TelEnterprises Ltd. (ACC) dated 21 July 1997 and Niagara Telecomm Inc. (Niagara) dated 21 July 1997. Bell filed replies on 15 and 22 July 1997.

3. AT&T Canada LDS submitted that it would be inappropriate to levy contribution on these circuits since the circuits at issue are similar to Direct Access Line (DAL) circuits between a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) and a reseller or Interexchange Carrier (IXC) switch. AT&T Canada LDS submitted that the application of contribution on these DAL circuits would be inconsistent with the treatment of DALs from PBX installations, and that it would be unfair to assess contribution on the traffic carried on these circuits if it traverses from a Centrex local via a Centrex DAL to a reseller or IXC switch.

4. AT&T Canada LDS also submitted that if the proposed tariff revision is approved, the Commission may well have to establish a new exemption process for Centrex tie trunks and DALs from a Centrex installation to a reseller switch.

5. AT&T Canada LDS concluded that where a Centrex installation is being used to provide access to an interexchange network, contribution should properly be applied on the inbound and outbound PSTN connectivities to Centrex.

6. ACC and Niagara submitted that ACC is currently paying contribution on all traffic that ACC receives from Niagara destined for ACC's interexchange network. ACC and Niagara submitted that Bell's proposal will result in a double payment of contribution. ACC submitted that if approved this additional arrangement will require a new round of contribution exemption applications to address configurations that represent double counting or do not route local PSTN traffic to the interexchange network.

7. Bell replied that the Centrex configuration that was the subject of Order 97-668 did not use Direct Inward System Access (DISA) ports, which is the service designed normally for the inbound PSTN connectivities. (DISA ports attract contribution.) Accordingly, in this configuration no contribution is paid at the originating end of inbound calls. Bell submitted that such configurations are properly the subject of contribution charges because calls from the PSTN are routed over a jointly used local channel to a resold joint use interexchange network. Bell submitted that configurations which utilize the PSTN to access and egress from the interexchange network are appropriately assessed contribution at both ends. Bell further submitted that it does not believe that its proposed tariff revisions would result in double counting of contribution.

8. Bell also noted that in the case of a PBX used by a reseller in a similar manner, contribution charges would apply to the PBX trunks which are used to receive calls from the PSTN.

9. Bell noted that the exemption process has been used in the past in cases involving Centrex DALs and that AT&T Canada LDS's claim that a new exemption process will be required is not valid. With respect to the requirement for exemption applications where circuits do not route local PSTN traffic to the interexchange network, Bell noted that such applications would be appropriate and entirely consistent with current processes and tariffs in place to address such requirements.

10. The Commission considers that circuits connecting a reseller's or sharing group's Centrex switch to another reseller's or sharing group's switch that are not dedicated and are being used to gather traffic from the PSTN should, as proposed by Bell, attract contribution. The Commission further considers that Centrex DAL configurations which do not route calls over joint use connections would still be exempt and would appropriately be dealt with under the current exemption process.

11. With respect to Niagara and ACC's submission that Bell's proposal would result in double payment of contribution, the Commission notes that pursuant to the Commission's current contribution regime, contribution is payable on both ends of a call that accesses and egresses the PSTN. Bell's proposal would require that contribution be paid at the "front end" of a circuit where that circuit connects a reseller's or a sharing group's switch to another reseller's or sharing group's switch, and joint use traffic is directed over the circuit from the PSTN.

12. It is therefore ordered that TN 6033 is approved, but for further clarity, the words "a circuit between" at the commencement of Bell's proposed description of the fifth arrangement are to be deleted. Accordingly, the fifth arrangement will read: (5) a reseller's or sharing group's Centrex service to another reseller's or sharing group's switch, where the locals of the Centrex service are configured to redirect to that circuit traffic received from the PSTN.

Laura M. Talbot-Allan
Secretary General

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