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Telecom Public Notice CRTC 98-10
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Ottawa, 12 May 1998 |
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LOCAL COMPETITION START-UP COSTS PROCEEDING
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Reference.: 8622-S1-03/98 |
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In Local Competition, Telecom Decision
CRTC 97-8, 1 May 1997 (Decision 97-8) and
in Responsibility for Carrier Specific Costs for the Provision of Local
Number Portability, Telecom Order CRTC
97-591, 1 May 1997 (Order
97-591), the Commission concluded that carrier specific local competition
start-up costs should be borne by the local exchange carriers incurring the
costs and each such carrier is responsible for the recovery of its own
costs. Further, Order 97-591
recognized a need to determine the means by which BC TEL, Bell Canada, The
Island Telephone Company Limited, Maritime Tel & Tel Limited, MTS
Communications Inc. (formerly MTS NetCom Inc.), The New Brunswick Telephone
Company, Limited, Newtel Communications Inc. and TELUS Communications Inc.
(the Stentor member companies) would recover their costs and indicated that
the Commission would be initiating a proceeding to address this issue. |
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Subsequently, in Implementation of Price
Cap Regulation and Related Issues, Telecom Decision CRTC
98-2, 5 March 1998 (Decision 98-2), the Commission
stated that this proceeding, namely, the Local Competition Start-up
Costs Proceeding, will address the Stentor member companies' start-up
costs for local competition and local number portability (LNP) for the year
1997 and beyond, except for TCI's 1997 costs which were addressed in
TELUS Communications Inc. - General Rate Increase 1996 and 1997,
Telecom Decision CRTC 96-13,
13 December 1996. |
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In Decision 98-2, the
Commission further stated that the Local Competition Start-up Costs
Proceeding will examine, among other things, whether any start-up costs
for local competition and LNP should be recovered from subscribers. |
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In TELUS Communications (Edmonton) Inc. -
Local Competition and Related Issues, Telecom Decision CRTC
98-6, 7 May 1998, the Commission approved the introduction of local
competition effective 1 July 1998. The Commission further stated that with
particular regard to Order 97-591,
there is no evidence to suggest that carrier specific costs for LNP should
be treated in the Edmonton market differently from all other markets
covered by the Decision 97-8 framework. |
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The Commission hereby initiates a proceeding
to consider issues concerning cost recovery by the Stentor member companies
and TELUS Communications (Edmonton) Inc. (TCEI) of local competition
start-up costs and costs specific to LNP. These issues include: (a)
identification of local competition start-up costs and costs specific to
LNP; (b) identification of the costs which should be subject to recovery
from subscribers; (c) the mechanism that should be employed to enable any
such recovery of costs from subscribers and any modifications required to
the price cap regime established in Price Cap Regulation and Related
Issues, Telecom Decision CRTC
97-9, 1 May 1997 and in related decisions; (d) whether the cost
recovery mechanism should separately address residential and business
subscribers and, if so, how this should be accomplished; and (e) any other
issues that the Commission should consider regarding local competition
start-up costs and costs specific to LNP. |
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PROCEDURE |
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The Stentor member companies and TCEI are made
parties to this proceeding. Other parties wishing to participate in this
proceeding must notify the Commission of their intention to do so by
writing to Mrs. Laura M. Talbot-Allan, Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa,
Ontario, K1A 0N2, fax: (819) 953-0795, by 1 June 1998. Parties are to
indicate in the 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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The Stentor member companies and TCEI are to
file their submissions on the matters addressed in this Public Notice by
15 June 1998, serving a copy on all parties. Other parties wishing to file
submissions may do so by filing them with the Commission and serving a copy
on all parties. |
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Parties may address interrogatories to any
party who files submissions pursuant to paragraph 7. Any such
interrogatories must be filed with the Commission with a copy served on the
relevant party or parties by 15 July 1998. |
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Responses to interrogatories addressed
pursuant to paragraph 8 are to be filed with the Commission with a copy
served on all parties by 17 August 1998. |
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Requests by parties for further responses to
their interrogatories addressed pursuant to paragraph 9, specifying in each
case why a further response is both relevant and necessary, and requests
for public disclosure of information for which confidentiality has been
claimed, setting out the reasons for disclosure, must be filed with the
Commission with a copy served on the relevant party or parties by
1 September 1998. |
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Responses to requests for further responses to
interrogatories and for public disclosure must be filed with the Commission
with a copy served on the party making the request by 8 September 1998. |
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The Commission will issue a determination with
respect to requests for disclosure and for further responses as soon as
possible, and intends to direct that any information to be provided
pursuant to that determination be filed with the Commission and served on
all parties to the proceeding by 5 October 1998. |
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Final arguments from parties are to be filed
with the Commission with a copy served on all other parties by 6 November
1998. |
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Reply arguments from parties are to be filed
with the Commission with a copy served on all other parties by 20 November
1998. |
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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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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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This document is available in alternative
format upon request. |
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Laura M. Talbot-Allan
Secretary General |