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Telecom Public Notice CRTC 98-30
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Ottawa, 7 October 1998 |
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50% DISCOUNT FOR TDD USERS ON LONG DISTANCE CALLS FOR HEARING OR
SPEECH-IMPAIRED SUBSCRIBERS
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File No.: 8665-C12-06/98 |
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I INTRODUCTION |
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1. In Forbearance - Regulation of Toll
Services Provided by Incumbent Telephone Companies, Telecom Decision
CRTC 97-19, 18 December 1997
(Decision 97-19), the Commission partially forbore from regulation of toll
and toll free services provided by incumbent telephone companies. However,
among other things, as a condition pursuant to section 24 of the
Telecommunications Act, the Commission required the federally regulated
Stentor member companies (the Stentor companies) to include in the rate
schedule for basic toll services the 50% discount applicable to calls which
originate from, and are billed to, the residence of a registered certified
user of a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD). |
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2. The discount for TDD users (TDD discount)
was first approved, on an interim basis, in Bell Canada, General
Increase in Rates, Telecom Decision CRTC 80-14, 12 August 1980, and was
extended to the remaining Stentor companies in subsequent decisions. As
noted in British Columbia Telephone Company - 50% Discount for
Intra-Company Message Toll Service Rates for Hearing or Speech-Impaired
Subscribers, Telecom Decision CRTC
87-4, 20 May 1987, the
purpose of the discount is to take account of the appreciably longer time
that is required for the registered hearing or speech-impaired subscriber
to send a communication over the telephone network. |
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3. The Commission notes that the eligibility
criteria for the TDD discount differ among the Stentor companies. For
example, in Bell Canada's territory the TDD discount is available only to
calls originating from and billed to the residence service of a certified
hearing or speech impaired TDD user; however, in the service territory of
Island Telecom Inc., the TDD discount is also available to business
customers offering TDD service to their customers, if they provide separate
lines dedicated to this purpose. |
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4. The Stentor companies left unchanged these
varying eligibility criteria for the TDD discount when they filed the
updated version of their National Services Tariff Item 210.4 to reflect
Decision 97-19. |
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II ISSUES |
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5. The Commission is of the preliminary view
that the eligibility criteria for the TDD discount should be the same in
all Stentor member territories. The Commission is also of the preliminary
view that the TDD discount should be available not only for calls that
originate from, and are billed to, the residence of a certified hearing or
speech impaired TDD user, but also for calls originating from a dedicated
TDD business line and billed to that business. |
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6. The Commission invites comments on the
views expressed above. In addition, parties may address in their comments
any other issues relating to discounts on long distance services to TDD
users. |
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III PROCEDURE |
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7. The Stentor companies are made parties to
this proceeding. |
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8. Other persons wishing to participate in
this proceeding must notify the Commission of their intention to do so by
writing to the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N2, fax:
819-953-0795, by 4 November 1998. Parties are to indicate in their notice
their Internet email address, where available. If parties do not have
access to the Internet, they are to indicate in their notice whether they
wish to receive disk versions of hard copy filings. The Commission will
issue a complete list of parties and their mailing addresses (including
Internet email addresses, if available), identifying those parties who wish
to receive disk versions. |
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9. Parties may file comments with the
Commission, serving copies on all other parties, by 25 November 1998. |
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10. Parties may file reply comments with the
Commission, serving copies on all other parties, by 16 December 1998. |
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11. 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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12. The record of this proceeding may be
examined, or will be made available promptly upon request, at the CRTC's
offices at the following addresses: Central Building
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
1 Promenade du Portage
Room 201
Hull, Quebec
Bank of Commerce Building
1809 Barrington Street
Suite 1007
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Place Montréal Trust
1800 McGill College Avenue
Suite 1920
Montréal, Quebec
55 St. Clair Avenue East
Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario
275 Portage Avenue
Suite 1810
Winnipeg, Manitoba
580 Hornby Street
Suite 530
Vancouver, British Columbia |
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13. 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
www.crtc.gc.ca. |
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Secretary General |
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This document is available in alternative
format upon request. |
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