ARCHIVED -  Telecom Order CRTC 97-564

Telecom Order CRTC 97-564

Ottawa, 25 April 1997

On 10 March 1997, Stentor Resource Centre Inc. (Stentor), on behalf of and with the concurrence of all federally regulated Stentor carriers, filed an ex parte application for approval of tariff revisions for the provision of a Customer Specific Business Long Distance Service.

File No.: Tariff Notice 436

Stentor filed supporting information pursuant to Review of Regulatory Framework - Targeted Pricing, Anti-Competitive Pricing and Imputation Test for Telephone Company Toll Filings, Telecom Decision CRTC 94-13, 13 July 1994 (Decision 94-13) and Review of Regulatory Framework, Telecom Decision CRTC 94-19, 16 September 1994 (Decision 94-19) indicating that the proposed service passes the imputation test.

Stentor requested, as an exception to the ex parte guidelines established in Decision 94-19, that this application not be placed on the public record until the customer has committed to take the service. The Commission is of the view that, under the circumstances, an exception to the ex parte guidelines is not appropriate.

Stentor, in confidence, requested that the Commission ratify the proposed customer-specific rates charged effective 1 July 1996, pursuant to section 25(4)(a) of the Telecommunications Act (the Act), due to circumstances as outlined in the application.

The Commission notes that Bell has implemented new internal procedures, with a view to ensuring regulatory compliance, which require that the Vice-President responsible will formally endorse each proposed customer specific arrangement.

The Commission notes that section 25(4) of the Act authorizes the Commission to ratify the charging of a rate by a Canadian carrier otherwise than in accordance with an approved tariff if the Commission is satisfied that the rate was charged because of an error or other circumstance that warrants the ratification. The Commission is satisfied that the rates proposed under Tariff Notice 436 are not anti-competitive and that, under the circumstances, ratification of the rates charged between 1 July and the date of this Order is warranted.

In light of the foregoing, the Commission orders that:

Tariff Notice 436 is granted interim approval and the rates charged between 1 July 1996 and the date of this Order are ratified on an interim basis. Stentor is directed to provide an abridged copy of the application on the public record in all relevant public examination rooms within 2 business days.