ARCHIVED - Costs Order CRTC 2000-17

Costs Order CRTC 2000-17

Ottawa, 28 November 2000

Subject: Independent telephone companies' service improvement plans, Public Notice CRTC 2000-54

Reference: 8638-C12-25/99 and 4754-180

Application for costs by Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) on behalf of Action Réseau Consommateur (ARC) et al.

Positions of parties

By letter dated 13 October 2000, ARC et al. applied for an award of costs in respect of their joint intervention in this proceeding. Given the amount of costs in question and the straightforward nature of the bill, ARC et al. requested that their costs be fixed as part of the cost award determination, so as to dispense with the need for a separate taxation process. ARC et al. attached a bill for a total of $5,922.79 in fees.

ARC et al. submit that they have met the test for an award of costs, in that:

a) they represent a body of subscribers that has a clear interest in the outcome of the proceeding;

b) they have participated responsibly; and

c) they contributed to a better understanding of the issues through their comments in the proceeding.

ARC et al. submitted that the appropriate respondents to this cost application are the telephone companies that were the subject of the proceeding, namely Northern Telephone Limited, O.N.Telcom, North Frontenac Telephone Co., Amtelecom Inc. and Compagnie de Téléphone Nantes Inc.

These five companies all responded with similar letters. North Frontenac, for example, stated in a letter dated 30 October 2000 that without commenting on the merits of the application, it "would not be opposed to PIAC's application provided that the Commission is satisfied that PIAC has adequately justified their entitlement to recover the amounts claimed in the Summary of Fees." O.N.Telcom stated in its letter dated 18 October 2000 that it "has no objection to ARC et al.'s application and is accordingly prepared to pay its proportionate share of the invoiced amount".

Commission determination

The Commission considers that ARC et al., which represent the interests of consumers, participated in the Public Notice 2000-54 proceeding in a serious manner and has contributed to a better understanding of the issues involved in this case. Accordingly, the Commission considers that ARC et al. meet the requirements for an award of costs.

The Commission considers that the proportionate ratio of 1999 total operating telecommunications revenues of these five independent telephone companies represents an appropriate measure to determine the proportionate share of the cost respondents. However, the revenues of Nantes are extremely small (considerably less than 1% of the total) in relation to those of the other companies. Because of this and for administrative convenience of the parties, Nantes will not be required to pay costs in this proceeding.

The Commission notes that ARC et al.'s bill of costs is broken down as follows:

Legal fees

Consultants

Econalysis Consulting Services Inc.

Total  $5,922.79

The Commission has examined the amounts claimed by ARC et al. and is satisfied that these costs were reasonably and necessarily incurred in connection with ARC et al.'s intervention in this proceeding and conform to the Guidelines for the Taxation of Costs, as amended in 1998.

For these reasons, the Commission approves the award of costs to ARC et al. Pursuant to subsection 56(1) of the Telecommunications Act, the Commission hereby fixes the costs at $5,922.79, to be paid to ARC et al. by the following companies in the following proportions: Northern - 43.8%; O.N.Telcom - 42.9%; Amtelecom - 11.7% and North Frontenac - 1.6%.

Secretary General

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