ARCHIVED -  Telecom Public Notice CRTC 99-2

Telecom Public Notice

Ottawa, 13 January 1999

Telecom Public Notice CRTC 99-2

CUSTOMER DEFINITION AND OWNERSHIP OF SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION IN INDEPENDENT TELEPHONE COMPANIES' TERRITORIES

File No.: 8622-C12-06/99

BACKGROUND

1.On 1 September 1998, the Commission issued Telecom Decision CRTC 98-14, Regulatory Framework - Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (Decision 98-14).

2.In Decision 98-14, the Commission stated that, while toll competition is in the public interest, it should not be implemented even on a limited, interim basis in O.N. Tel's territory before 1 July 2000. Furthermore, prior to its implementation, it is important to have in place a definition of a customer. However, the Commission considered that because of the unique historic structure of and relationship between telecommunications providers in the independents' territories, the definition of customer involves a resolution of questions relating to subscriber data ownership and end-customer service provider. The Commission also considered that a determination on these matters may have broad implications for other independent telephone companies that were not party to the proceeding initiated by Regulatory Framework - Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 97-7, 19 February 1997, that led to Decision 98-14.

ISSUES

3.In light of the above, the Commission requests comments on the following issues:

(a) the appropriateness of setting a uniform definition in the General Tariffs of the independent telephone companies of what constitutes a customer for the independent telephone companies, having regard to, among other things, the need for a clear distinction between single customers, resellers and sharing groups (with supporting reasons and details of any proposed alternatives);

(b) the appropriateness of extending to the independent telephone companies the common definition of customer set out in Definition of Customer, Telecom Decision CRTC 97-4 , 26 February 1997 (Decision 97-4);

(c) the ownership of customer data information given the historic relationship between the telecommunications providers in the independents' territories but also given the effects such ownership could have on the development of effective competition in the interexchange market; and

(d) the appropriateness of approving a rate for the provision of toll customer data chargeable by the owner of that data, given the historical relationship between the telecommunications providers in the independents' territories but also given the effects such a rate structure could have on the development of effective competition in the interexchange market.

PROCEDURE

4.BC TEL, Bell Canada, Northwestel Inc., the independent telephone companies, including Prince Rupert City Telephone,
Québec-Téléphone and Télébec ltée are made parties to this proceeding.

5.Other parties 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 27 January 1999. Parties are to indicate in the notice their Internet email address, if available. If parties do not have access to the Internet, they are to indicate in their notice whether they wish to receive disk version 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 version.

6.Interested parties may file comments with the Commission on the issues raised in this Public Notice, serving copies on other interested parties, by 12 February 1999.

7.Interested parties may file reply comments with the Commission, serving copies on all other parties, by 22 February 1999.

8.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 G-5
Hull, Quebec

Place Montréal Trust
1800 McGill College Avenue
Suite 1920
Montréal, Quebec

55 St. Clair Avenue East
Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario

580 Hornby Street
Suite 530
Vancouver, British Columbia

9.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.

10.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.

Secretary General

This document is available in alternative format upon request.