ARCHIVED -  Telecom Order CRTC 99-1056

Telecom Order

Ottawa, 5 November 1999

Telecom Order CRTC 99-1056

On 9 June 1999, Vidéotron (1998) ltée (Vidéotron) filed an application under Tariff Notice (TN) 1, for approval of its General Tariff and a Basic Listing Interchange File (BLIF) agreement. On 23 July 1999, Vidéotron filed revisions to TN 1 under TN 1A.

File No.: Tariff Notice 1

1.On 5 August 1999, Bell Canada (Bell) filed comments regarding TN 1 on behalf of itself, Island Telecom Inc., Maritime Tel & Tel Limited, MTS Communications Inc., NBTel Inc. and NewTel Communications Inc. Vidéotron filed reply comments on 12 August 1999.

2.Bell noted that Vidéotron's proposed tariff would require the incumbent telephone company to provide proof of registration as an interexchange carrier (IXC) and submitted that pursuant to Competition in the provision of public long distance voice telephone services and related resale and sharing issues, Telecom Decision CRTC 92-12, 12 June 1992 (Decision 92-12), this is not required.

3.Bell submitted that the proposed tariff for network announcements for customers of disconnected IXCs with trunk-side access service should be modified to indicate that network announcements provide instructions for casual calling.

4.Bell also noted that certain of the proposed tariff provisions associated with the recovery of contribution charges are not in conformance with the rules established by the Commission.

5.Bell was of the view that Vidéotron's tariff should include a paragraph on contribution exemptions regarding competitive pay telephone providers.

6.Bell requested that directives be issued which specify the terms and conditions that would apply to an integrated operation of a local exchange carrier (LEC)/IXC regarding the recovery of toll contribution from interexchange services it provides. Bell was of the view that it would be inappropriate for the Commission to approve Vidéotron's tariff prior to the resolution of this matter.

7.Bell noted that 9-1-1 Emergency Reporting Service (ERS) is provided to end-customers and that the Commission forbore from regulating competitive local exchange carriers' (CLECs') tariffs to end-users in Local competition, Telecom Decision CRTC 97-8, 1 May 1997. Bell submitted the 9-1-1 ERS tariff should not be part of Vidéotron's General Tariff.

8.Bell also suggested that Vidéotron implement a number of additional changes to either clarify, or make minor revisions to various provisions.

9.Vidéotron was generally prepared to adopt the suggestions made by Bell. Vidéotron however objected to Bell's request that approval of its General Tariff be delayed until the Commission had issued rules specifying the terms and conditions to be included within a CLEC's tariffs regarding the recovery of contribution from interexchange services it provides.

10.Vidéotron further submitted that Bell's intervention with respect to its 9-1-1 ERS tariff was misguided. Vidéotron noted that the provisions in its 9-1-1 ERS tariff pertain to its dealings with respect to municipalities and not with respect to end customers.

11.The Commission notes that to the extent that Vidéotron also provides interexchange services, contribution charges would apply. The Commission considers that a provision to that effect should be included in Vidéotron's tariff. Accordingly, the Commission agrees with Vidéotron that approval of its General Tariff need not be delayed pursuant to Bell's request.

12.The Commission however agrees with Bell that, pursuant to Decision 92-12, only alternate providers of long distance services (APLDS) are required to register as IXCs.

13.The Commission notes that, pursuant to Contribution on traffic carried by alternate providers of long distance services over direct access lines, Telecom Decision CRTC 99-9, 20 July 1999 (Decision 99-9), changes in the contribution regime with respect to direct access lines are not to take effect until 1 January 1999. The Commission thus considers that Vidéotron's proposal to implement a contribution tariff consistent with Decision 99-9 to be premature at this time.

14.The Commission further notes that different contribution exemptions apply to overseas circuits and Canada-U.S. circuits and considers that Vidéotron's tariff should reflect the specific exemptions that apply to each.

15.The Commission considers that Vidéotron's 9-1-1 ERS tariff should be amended to reflect the provisions of the standard form Agreement between CLECs and Municipalities/Municipal Associations for Quebec that it approved in a letter dated 24 July 1998.

16.By letter dated 16 June 1998, CLECs were directed to file a billing and collection tariff. The Commission notes that the proposed tariff does not provide for billing and collection service and considers that Vidéotron should file such a tariff within 30 days of the date of this Order.

17.The Commission considers that, in addition to the above, various changes and/or corrections to Vidéotron's tariff are required to clarify various provisions and to ensure consistency with the approved incumbent local exchange carrier and CLEC tariffs.

18.The Commission notes that the proposed BLIF agreement is consistent with those approved for other CLECs.

19.In light of the foregoing, the Commission orders that:

1. The proposed BLIF agreement and General Tariff are granted interim approval with the following modifications:

a) in Item 100,

i) replace the existing definition of exchange with the following definition:

Exchange means a basic geographical area for the administration and provision of telephone service by an Incumbent LEC, which normally encompasses a city, town or village and adjacent areas. The territory served by an exchange is known as the 'exchange area'. See also Local Calling Area.

ii) add the following definition for line-side access:

Line-side access means any connecting arrangement provided by VL over which PSTN dial tone is delivered, enabling the IXC or WSP to access or egress VL's PSTN.

b) in Item 300.1 b), add a reference to Schedule 3, Terms and Definitions;

c) modify the wording in Items 300.1 n) and o), to clarify that the incumbent telephone company is not required to register or to file a description of its network;

d) in Item 301.1 b), add 1-800/877/888 services to the list of services that the IXC's subscribers will be able to access;

e) in Item 302.1 a),

i) replace the second and third paragraphs with the following:

The contribution charges specified in column A apply to all APLDS. The rates specified in column B apply to the Incumbent LEC.

Where applicable, the contribution charges specified in Item 302 are also applicable to VL in relation to any interexchange services it offers, where interexchange services are defined by the Incumbent LEC's exchange boundaries.

ii) modify the sentence just preceding the rate table to indicate that the switching and aggregation charges apply only when the interconnecting circuit is associated with trunk-side access;

f) renumber Items 302.2 c) and d) as Items 302.2 a) and b);

g) in Item 302.4 a), replace the wording "paragraph 1" with "paragraphs 1, 2, and 3";

h) in Item 302.4 b)

i) replace the first paragraph with:

The contribution charges specified in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Item do not apply when an interconnecting circuit associated with line-side access is: used to provide a dedicated voice or dedicated data service, used to provide a local service, or associated with a stand-alone administrative location or system which is not directly interconnected to the IXC's interexchange network, provided that the IXC applies to the Commission on a case by case basis and provides evidence satisfactory to the Commission that by reason of the technical, economic or operational characteristics of the service, it is unlikely that the connections will be used significantly for the provision of joint-use interexchange services.

ii) in the second paragraph, replace "dedicated voice, dedicated data" with "dedicated voice or dedicated data service" and "Canada" with "Canadian";

j) insert Item 302.4 c), and add the following text under it:

Where a competitive pay telephone service provider uses interconnecting circuits, such as pay telephone basic access lines, which are not directly connected to an interexchange network provided by the pay telephone service provider or by another service provider, the contribution charges specified in paragraph 1 do not apply. An application to the Commission for a contribution exemption is not required.

and

k) to the end of the third sentence in Item 303.1.a), add the following:

and/or to obtain instructions for making immediate long distance calls via casual calling.

2. Vidéotron is directed to issue revised tariff pages incorporating the amendments specified in 1 above within 10 days of the date of this Order.

3. Within 30 days of the date of this Order, Vidéotron is directed to file for Commission approval:

a) a billing and collection tariff; and

b) amendments to Item 501, VL 9-1-1 Emergency Reporting Service (ERS) which:

i) reflect the provisions of the standard form Agreement between CLECs and the Municipalities/Municipal Associations for Quebec approved in a Commission letter dated 24 July 1998; and

ii) include the following as additional obligations that Vidéotron must provide under sub-item 4.1:

1. Provide to the Municipality at its designated Call Answer Centre a telephone number that is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for purposes of reporting trouble with the 9-1-1 Emergency Calling System.

2. Provide to the Municipality at its designated Call Answer Centre a facsimile number or alternative address such as e-mail or both, for purposes of dealing with problems with information as to Local Subscribers and the E9-1-1 Street Address Database, and updating such information as requested.

Secretary General

This document is available in alternative format upon request and may also be viewed at the following Internet site: www.crtc.gc.ca