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Telecom Order
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Ottawa, 14 July 1998
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Telecom Order CRTC 98-689
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On 17 February 1998, Québec-Téléphone filed an application for authority to impose a moratorium on all new requests for extended area service links for 1998.
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File No.: 8632-Q1-01/98
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1. Québec-Téléphone noted that in Telecom Order CRTC 97-1837 dated 16 December 1997 (Order 97-1837), the Commission denied the company’s proposal to increase by 10¢ the surcharge to residence subscribers for each extended area service (EAS) link.
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2. Québec-Téléphone indicated that the existing tariffs for EAS link surcharges will not provide compensation for the new links that it plans to establish in 1998.
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3. Québec-Téléphone indicated that Order 97-1837 prevented it from complying with the relevant provisions of Regulatory Framework for Québec-Téléphone and Télébec ltée, Telecom Decision CRTC 96-5, 7 August 1996 (Decision 96-5), in that it will require that the general body of subscribers bear the full cost of these new EAS links.
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4. Québec-Téléphone submitted that it was imperative that the Commission approve the company’s application for a moratorium.
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5. Québec-Téléphone added that the moratorium would allow it to develop a new rate structure. The new rate structure would enable the company to recover the costs of establishing new EAS links, as provided for by the Commission in Decision 96-5, but would not unduly burden certain subscribers in urban areas. Québec-Téléphone noted that that would resolve the problem raised by the Commission in Implementation of Regulatory Framework for Québec-Téléphone and Télébec ltée, Telecom Decision CRTC 97-21, 18 December 1997 (Decision 97-21).
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6. On 15 April 1998, the Commission addressed an interrogatory to the company pointing out that the contribution rate approved in Decision 97-21 was based on the company’s budget view, which included all costs related to the establishment of the EAS links planned for 1998.
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7. On 30 April 1998, Québec-Téléphone filed its responses. The company submitted that its request for a moratorium on EAS links stemmed more from its concern about equitable treatment for its subscribers with respect to EAS than from financial concerns.
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8. The company indicated that several rules it is required to follow when establishing EAS links are different from those applicable to Bell Canada (Bell).
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9. Québec-Téléphone cited: (a) different rules pertaining to community of interest; (b) different rules pertaining to subscriber consultations; and (c) discriminatory regulatory and tariff treatment between companies.
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10. The company indicated that, owing to a lack of regulatory uniformity, the subscribers in its larger exchanges are penalized in the increasingly frequent cases in which the subscribers of Bell or other companies request an EAS link with a Québec-Téléphone exchange.
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11. The Commission considers that Québec-Téléphone is in a position to recover the costs related to the establishment of the EAS links planned for 1998, given the rates approved in Order 97-1837 and the contribution rate approved in Decision 97-21.
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12. The Commission notes that it was responding to the company’s request when it accepted the criteria of the Régie des télécommunications du Québec for the establishment of EAS links in Québec-Téléphone territory.
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13. The Commission notes that the company has the right to propose different criteria for establishing EAS links in its territory.
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14. The Commission is of the view that the arguments advanced by Québec-Téléphone for a moratorium on new EAS links are insufficient.
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15. In light of the foregoing, the Commission orders that:
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The application by Québec-Téléphone for a moratorium on all new requests for EAS links for 1998 is denied.
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Laura M. Talbot-Allan
Secretary General
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This document is available in alternative format upon request.
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