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Ottawa, 10 November 1998
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Telecom Order CRTC 98-1117
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TARIFFS FOR DIRECTORY FILE SERVICE
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Directory File Service Tariffs and Associated Licensing Agreements:
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Island Tel Tariff Notice (TN) 491;
MT&T TN 708;
MTS TN 337;
NewTel TNs 563/A/B; and
NBTel TNs 737/A
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1.In Provision of Directory Database Information and Real-Time Access to Directory Assistance Databases, Telecom Decision CRTC 95-3, 8 March 1995 (Decision 95-3), the Commission ordered BC TEL, Bell Canada (Bell), The Island Telephone Company Limited (now called Island Telecom Inc.) (Island Tel), Maritime Tel & Tel Limited (MT&T), The New Brunswick Telephone Company, Limited (now called NBTel Inc.) (NBTel), NewTel Communications Inc. (NewTel) and TELUS Communications Inc. (TCI) to, among other things, issue general tariffs making non-confidential residential and business listing information available in machine-readable form, unbundled on an exchange-level basis (hereafter referred to as Directory File Service (DFS)). Pending the development of final rates, the Commission set interim rates for the listing information at $0.06 per residential listing and $0.065 per business listing, with a $500.00 set-up fee per service request.
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2.By letter dated 29 July 1996, following the Governor in Council's disposition of a petition to Cabinet regarding Decision 95-3 (Order in Council P.C. 1996-1001), the Commission issued directions to the above-noted companies as to the filing of interim and final tariffs for DFS. In Telecom Order CRTC 96-1522, 23 December 1996, the Commission directed MTS NetCom Inc. (now called MTS Communications Inc.) (MTS) and Northwestel Inc. to file tariffs making DFS available.
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3.On 23 July 1998, the Commission issued Telecom Order CRTC 98-728 (Order 98-728) setting final rates for DFS for Bell, BC TEL and TCI and approving on a final basis their DFS tariffs and associated licensing agreements.
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4.Pursuant to Order 98-728, the Commission received applications or revised applications dated 24 August 1998, proposing final rates, terms and conditions for the provision of DFS from Island Tel under TN 491, MT&T under TN 708, MTS under TN 337, NewTel under TN 563B; and from NBTel under TN 737A dated 25 August 1998. With their applications, these companies filed associated licensing agreements and supporting economic information. They stated that they had assessed the applicability of Bell, BC TEL and TCI's final rates outlined in Order 98-728 and determined that these rates do not allow for an appropriate mark-up. Therefore, these companies proposed higher per listing rates than those set in Order 98-728 for Bell, BC TEL and TCI.
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5.Atlantic Telephone Directories and Future Technology Information Services Inc. filed comments by 8 September 1998. These parties were of the view that additional information was needed to support the level of the rates proposed.
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6.The Commission is satisfied at this time that the proposed rates have generally been developed pursuant to the Commission's findings in Order 98-728. The Commission considers that the rates proposed are more appropriate than the current levels in effect which were set on an interim basis in Decision 95-3.
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7.The Commission also establishes the following procedure with respect to requests by parties for further information:
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(a) Parties may address interrogatories to the telephone companies. Any such interrogatories must be filed with the Commission and served on the relevant parties by 1 December 1998.
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(b) The telephone companies are to file responses, serving copies on all other parties, by 15 December 1998.
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(c) Parties may file supplemental comments, serving copies on all other parties, by 29 December 1998.
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(d) The telephone companies may file supplemental reply comments, serving copies on all other parties, by 12 January 1999.
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8.All materials to be filed or served pursuant to this determination by a specific date must be received, and not merely sent, by the date indicated.
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9.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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10.In light of the foregoing, the Commission orders that:
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(1) the applications are granted interim approval retroactive to the effective date of the current interim rates; and
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(2) the Licensing Agreements filed by the telephone companies are granted final approval.
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Secretary General
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This document is available in alternative format upon request.
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