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Ottawa, 24 September 1998
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Telecom Order CRTC 98-944
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On 21 May 1998, the Commission received an affidavit dated 16 December 1997 from Orion Communications Inc. (Orion). Orion requested an exemption from contribution charges with respect to Centrex systems used solely to provide local or single-hop services.
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File No.: 8626-O14-01/98
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1.By letter dated 27 May 1998, Bell Canada (Bell) noted that the affidavit is deficient in one respect. Bell stated that Orion has not provided a list of specific Centrex systems that require exemption, identifying the billing telephone number or the numbering plan area (NPA) NXX associated with the system. Bell noted that this is required in order to clearly identify the services for which the exemption is requested.
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2.Bell recommended that the Commission defer ruling with respect to Orion's application pending the provision of a revised affidavit specifying the Centrex systems for which the exemption is required. In the alternative, if the services have not yet been installed, Bell submitted that Orion should advise the Commission that it is seeking advance approval of an exemption with respect to services that will be installed at a later date.
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3.By letter dated 19 August 1998, Orion provided an affidavit affirming that certain Centrex systems are used solely for the provision of local or single-hop extended area service.
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4.By letter dated 28 August 1998, Bell noted that the requested list of specific Centrex systems that require exemption, identifying the billing telephone number or the NPA NXX associated with the systems, has been provided in the new affidavit filed with Orion's latest submission.
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5.Bell stated that it has reviewed the new affidavit and noted that it appears to satisfy the evidentiary requirements for such exemptions. Bell stated that it has also reviewed its records with respect to the Centrex systems identified in the new affidavit and noted that the list corresponds to its records.
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6.The Commission is of the view that Orion has satisfied the evidentiary requirements for exemptions for local or single-hop Centrex services and notes that Bell agrees.
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7.With respect to the effective date, the Commission notes that in Effective Date of Contribution Exemptions, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 95-26 dated 12 June 1995, the Commission stated that "contribution exemptions will generally be granted effective the later of the date of the application or the date of installation, absent special circumstances". In practice, the Commission has, in many cases, allowed the exemption to be effective the date of the affidavit execution rather than the date of the covering letter formally requesting a contribution exemption when the date of affidavit execution precedes the date of the letter, and there is no significant difference between the two.
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8.In this case, there has been a delay of five months from the date of affidavit execution (16 December 1997) to the date of application (20 May 1998). The Commission is of the view that in the circumstances, the delay in this case is acceptable.
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9.In light of the above, Orion's application is approved effective the date of the affidavit execution, 16 December 1997.
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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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