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ARCHIVED - Order CRTC 2000-629

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Order CRTC 2000-629

Ottawa, 5 July 2000

Recovery of equal access start-up costs

Reference: Northern Tariff Notices 106 and 106A
The Commission denies Northern Telephone Limited's proposal to set a rate of $0.00173 per minute of originating or terminating traffic for the recovery of the start-up costs associated with the implementation of equal access in Northern's operating territory.

1.

Northern Telephone Limited filed Tariff Notice 106 on 16 July 1999 and revised it on 16 May 2000.

2.

In its intervention of 16 August 1999, O.N. Tel submitted that Northern's application was premature. In support, O.N. Tel noted that in Regulatory framework - Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, Telecom Decision CRTC 98-14, dated 1 September 1998, while the Commission directed Northern and O.N. Tel to implement equal access in their respective territories, it encouraged Northern and O.N. Tel to negotiate with each other when implementing equal access in order to interconnect where it is most economical and reduce costs.

3.

O.N. Tel also noted that in Decision 98-14, the Commission also indicated that O.N. Tel's share of equal access start-up costs would be established in the proceeding to examine the specific terms and conditions of toll competition in O.N. Tel's territory.

4.

O.N. Tel further submitted that no meaningful information had been filed to allow O.N. Tel to properly comment on Northern's equal access start-up costs. Finally, O.N. Tel submitted that many issues remained outstanding between itself and Northern which needed to be resolved before Northern could quantify its equal access start-up costs.

5.

In reply, Northern submitted that O.N. Tel misinterpreted the Commission's intent in Decision 98-14. Northern submitted that the Commission's goal was to allow Northern and O.N. Tel to develop separate approaches to implement equal access that met with each company's individual needs. Northern submitted that the Commission did not require Northern and O.N. Tel to negotiate the terms and conditions for implementing equal access but for interconnecting their networks to allow equal access.

6.

Northern also submitted that, in Decision 98-14, the Commission stated that it would only examine O.N. Tel's, not Northern's, equal access start-up costs in the proceeding to examine toll competition in O.N. Tel's territory. Northern submitted that the Commission intended that the methodology used to recover Northern's start-up costs should be the same as the one approved for other independent telephone companies.

7.

The Commission finds that Northern's filings of Tariff Notices 106 and 106A are premature. In light of its determination in Decision 98-14, the Commission considers that setting a rate for the recovery of equal access start-up costs for Northern should not be done in isolation, and should not be sooner than the process for examining the terms and conditions of toll competition in O.N. Tel's territory. To do so would circumvent the Commission's determination in Decision 98-14 on this matter.
Secretary General
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