ARCHIVED - Telecom Public Notice CRTC 97-21
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Telecom Public Notice |
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Ottawa, 6 June 1997
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Telecom Public Notice CRTC 97-21
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REVIEW OF BUNDLING AND JOINT MARKETING RESTRICTIONS
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Reference: 97-8045
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1. In Review of Joint Marketing Restrictions, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 97-14, 25 April 1997 (PN 97-14), the Commission sought comments on whether, in light of developments in the market-place, it is appropriate to continue to impose on the Stentor member companies and independent telephone companies ("the telephone companies") the joint marketing restrictions set out in Cellular Radio - Adequacy of Structural Safeguards, Telecom Decision CRTC 87-13, 23 September 1987 and Rogers Cantel Inc. v. Bell Canada - Marketing of Cellular Service, Telecom Decision CRTC 92-13, 29 June 1992.
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2. In Review of Regulatory Framework, Telecom Decision CRTC 94-19, 16 September 1994 (Decision 94-19), the Commission described "bundling" as a situation where one price covers a number of services or where a number of separately priced services are aggregated for purposes of applying volume discounts. That Decision addressed the regulatory approach to the bundling of tariffed services. In Local Competition, Telecom Decision CRTC 97-8, 1 May 1997 (Decision 97-8), the Commission addressed the regulatory approach applicable to bundling tariffed and detariffed telecommunications services.
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3. The Commission considers that it would be timely to consider broader issues related to the bundling of tariffed services with other types of in-house services or with services of other entities, and the manner in which such activities relate to the joint marketing restrictions. Accordingly, the Commission announces that it is expanding the scope of the proceeding established in PN 97-14 to include consideration of these issues. In particular, the Commission seeks comments on the bundling of a tariffed service with:
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1) services of an affiliated company;
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2) services of a non-affiliated company; and
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3) non-telecommunications services offered in-house by the telephone company (e.g. Broadcasting Act).
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4. The Commission also invites comments on the appropriate competitive safeguards that may be required in order to prevent anti-competitive abuses (e.g., cross-subsidy and predatory pricing) that may arise from bundling by the telephone companies.
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5. The Commission notes that issues regarding the offering by certain Canadian carriers of tariffed telecommunications services with broadcasting services are also under consideration in Regulation of Certain Telecommunications Services Offered by Broadcast Carriers, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 96-36, 6 December 1996 (PN 96-36). To the extent that the same or similar issues may be raised both of this proceeding and by the proceeding initiated by PN 96-36, the Commission notes its intention to address, in its decision of this proceeding, the general principles applicable to the issues set out above.
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6. The Commission does not intend to reconsider issues concerning the bundling of telecommunications services provided in-house by the telephone companies. Issues concerning such bundling have been addressed in Decision 94-19 and Decision 97-8.
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Procedure
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7. Persons wishing to participate in this proceeding, that have not already registered pursuant to PN 97-14, 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 30 June 1997. The Commission will then issue a complete list of parties and their mailing addresses (including Internet email addresses if available), identifying those parties who wish to receive disk version.
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8. Deadlines for filing comments and reply comments pursuant to PN 97-14 are hereby extended by two weeks.
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9. Parties may file comments with the Commission, serving copies on all other parties, by 14 July 1997.
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10. Parties may file reply comments, serving copies on all other parties, by 31 July 1997.
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11. 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.gc.ca. Electronically filed documents can be accessed at the Commission's Internet site at http://www.crtc.gc.ca.
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12. 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.
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This document is available in alternative format upon request.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General |
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AVI97-21_0
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- Date modified: