ARCHIVED -  Telecom Order CRTC 98-679

This page has been archived on the Web

Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. Archived Decisions, Notices and Orders (DNOs) remain in effect except to the extent they are amended or reversed by the Commission, a court, or the government. The text of archived information has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Changes to DNOs are published as “dashes” to the original DNO number. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats by contacting us.

Telecom Order

Ottawa, 9 July 1998
Telecom Order CRTC 98-679
On 6 February 1998 and on 26 February 1998, TELUS Communications Inc. (TCI) and TELUS Communications (Edmonton) Inc. (TCEI) filed applications for approval of tariff revisions pertaining to the introduction of Inbound Data Access (IDA) Service and the associated IDA Service agreements.
File Nos.: TCI Tariff Notice 1011 and
TCEI Tariff Notice 73
1.Comments were received from AT&T Canada Long Distance Services Company (AT&T Canada LDS), CADVision Development Corporation (CADVision) and MetroNet Communications Corp. (MetroNet). CADVision and AT&T Canada LDS supported approval of the applications, but raised a number of concerns with some of the terms of the proposed IDA Service and the associated IDA Service agreement.
2.MetroNet submitted that the applications should be denied because the imputation test submitted was flawed as it did not include network costs. As such, MetroNet submitted that the proposed rates are anti-competitive.
3.MetroNet also stated that TCI's waiving of termination charges for customers migrating to its new proposed service but retaining the termination charges if customers migrated to a Centrex reseller constituted unjust discrimination.
4.TCI, in reply, stated that traffic and related network costs were excluded as they are not causal to the provision of the proposed IDA Service, but are causal to the provision of the company's local exchange service. However, TCI noted that there are other network costs that are causal to the IDA Service which have been included in the imputation test. These costs include the traffic sensitive costs relating to the additional traffic generated at the local switch by the IDA Service and the maintenance costs relating to the above traffic sensitive capital cost.
5.TCI stated that waiving service charges on a particular service, while maintaining termination charges for another service is not an uncommon practice and has been approved by the Commission in other applications. In addition, TCI stated that the waiving of termination charges is in the nature of a promotion and is not required to pass the imputation test. TCI submitted that there can be no discrimination to any specific customer, as customers of the existing services may choose to take the new service, stay with the current service, or migrate to another service offered by TCI or other service providers for which termination charges are not waived during the promotional period. The benefit of the waived charges is equally available to all customers of the relevant services who choose to migrate to the IDA Service.
6.The Commission agrees with TCI that the network costs are causal to the local exchange service and that the imputation test results submitted by TCI and TCEI are not flawed.
7.The Commission is also of the view that waiving the termination charges for customers migrating to the proposed service from other identified services does not constitute unjust discrimination as this option is available to all customers of the designated other services who choose to migrate to the proposed service.
8.The Commission is of the view that, in its reply, TCI has adequately addressed the issues raised by AT&T Canada LDS and CADVision and that no changes to the proposed tariff are required.
9.In light of the foregoing, the Commission approves the proposed tariff revisions and associated IDA Service agreements.
Laura M. Talbot-Allan
Secretary General
This document is available in alternative format upon request.

Date modified: