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Order CRTC 2000-1183
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Ottawa, 21 December 2000
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International contribution charges
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Reference: CNCI Tariff Notice 11
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The Commission approves on an interim basis, with the changes listed below, CNCI's proposed changes to its General Tariff that reflect Commission directed changes to international contribution provisions.
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1.
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Call-Net Enterprises Inc., on behalf of Call-Net Communications Inc. (CNCI), filed an application proposing tariff revisions to comply with the Commission's determinations in its letter of 17 December 1999 with respect to international contribution. CNCI filed its application on 7 February 2000.
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2.
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Bell Canada, Island Telecom Inc., Maritime Tel & Tel Limited, MTS Communications Inc., NBTel Inc. and NewTel Communications Inc. (the companies) filed comments.
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3.
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The Commission agrees with the companies that a number of changes should be made to the proposed tariff so that it complies with the Commission letter ruling, dated 17 December 1999, on the subject of the Industry task force on international contribution - Final consensus report.
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4.
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The Commission considers that a number of additional changes are necessary to correct minor errors and omissions in the tariff.
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5.
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In light of the foregoing, the Commission orders that the proposed tariff modifications are granted interim approval with the following modifications:
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A) Delete the proposed definitions "international circuit" and "international contribution eligible traffic" and add the following definitions for "class A licensee", "class B licensee", "competitive pay telephone provider", "direct access lines" and "overseas circuit":
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Class A licensee means a telecommunications service provider who:
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a)1 operates telecommunications facilities used in transporting basic international traffic between Canada and another country, whether those facilities are owned by the licensee or leased from a separate facilities provider; or
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b) operates telecommunications equipment that converts basic international traffic from circuit-switched minutes originating in Canada to non-circuit-switched traffic, or from non-circuit-switched traffic to circuit-switched minutes terminating in Canada, regardless of whether the licensee is responsible for the international transport; or
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c) performs both of the functions described in a) and b) above.
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Such telecommunications service provider shall have obtained from the Commission a class A license for the provision of basic international telecommunications services. For more information with respect to licensing requirements, refer to the CRTC web site.
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Class B licensee means a telecommunications service provider who provides international telecommunications services but neither:
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a) operates telecommunications facilities used in transporting basic international traffic between Canada and another country; nor
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b) operates telecommunications equipment that converts basic international traffic from circuit-switched minutes originating in Canada to non-circuit-switched traffic, or from non-circuit-switched traffic to circuit-switched minutes terminating in Canada.
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Class B licensees include service providers who only resell the switched services of other service providers. Such telecommunications service providers shall have obtained from the Commission a Class B license for the provision of basic international telecommunications services. For more information with respect to licensing requirements refer to the CRTC web site.
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Competitive pay telephone service providermeans a company or individual that provides competitive pay telephone service for use by the general public. For the purposes of this tariff, the competitive pay telephone service provider is the company's customer.
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Direct access line (DAL) means a network arrangement used to transmit traffic over a dedicated facility between an interexchange service provider's interexchange network and a subscriber's premises.
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Overseas circuit means a circuit that connects a service or a facility of an international service provider to a country other than the United States, directly or via an overseas carrier, for the purpose of providing overseas service.
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B) In the definition of the word "exchange", insert the words "by the ILEC" after the words "telephone service".
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C) Renumber the second occurrence of Item 302, which is labelled "Contribution Charges for Trunk-Side and Line-Side Access" as Item 304.
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D) In Item 304 (1) (a) (i) replace the title of the table with "Contribution charge, each minute of traffic, IXSPs which use DALs, other than the ILECs (see notes 1, 2 and 3).
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E) In Item 304 (1) (a) (ii) replace the title of the table with "Contribution charge, each minute of traffic, ILECs and IXSPs which do not use DALs (see notes 1, 2 and 3)."
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F) In Item 304 (1) (a), add the following notes:
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Note 2 - An attestation that an IXSP does not use DALs requires that the IXSP provide an affidavit to the company and the Commission, sworn by a senior officer of said IXSP, attesting to the fact that the IXSP does not use any DALs to originate or terminate traffic in the applicable ILEC's operating territory. The affidavit must be resubmitted on an annual basis and include a statement that if, during the year, the IXSP uses any DALs, the IXSP will notify the Commission immediately, serving a copy on the company, and the contribution rate applicable to IXSPs that do use DALs would immediately apply.
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Note 3 - CNCI will assess itself contribution charges on contribution-eligible interexchange originating and terminating minutes associated with its own services at the rates specified in Item 302.
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G) Renumber Item 304 (1) (c) as Item 304 (1)(b), replace the existing rate table with the following two tables:
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(i) Carriers and other service providers which use DALs, other than the ILECs (see note 1)
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Monthly contribution charges
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Group size
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Alberta
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B.C.
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Ontario/ Quebec
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1-3
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$ 16
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$ 14
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$ 4
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4-6
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$ 54
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$ 49
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$13
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7-9
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$ 79
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$ 71
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$19
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10-14
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$ 98
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$ 89
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$24
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15-19
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$114
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$103
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$28
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20-29
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$129
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$116
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$31
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30-39
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$141
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$128
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$34
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40-49
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$149
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$135
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$36
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50-74
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$158
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$143
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$38
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75-99
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$167
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$150
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$40
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100 and over
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$176
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$159
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$43
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ii) ILECs, carriers and other service providers that have attested they do not use DALs (see note 1)
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Monthly contribution charges
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Group size
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Alberta
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B.C.
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Ontario/ Quebec
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1-3
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$146
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$ 13
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$ 3
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4-6
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$ 48
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$ 44
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$11
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7-9
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$ 70
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$ 63
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$17
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10-14
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$ 87
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$ 79
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$21
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15-19
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$101
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$ 92
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$24
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20-29
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$114
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$103
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$27
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30-39
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$125
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$113
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$30
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40-49
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$133
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$120
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$32
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50-74
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$141
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$127
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$33
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75-99
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$148
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$134
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$35
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100 and over
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$156
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$141
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$37
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Note 1 - An attestation that an IXSP does not use DALs requires that the IXSP provide an affidavit to CNCI and the Commission, sworn by a senior officer of said IXSP, attesting to the fact that the IXSP does not use any DALs to originate or terminate traffic in the applicable ILEC's operating territory. The affidavit must be resubmitted on an annual basis and include a statement that if, during the year, the IXSP uses any DALs, the IXSP will notify the Commission immediately, serving a copy on CNCI, and the contribution rate applicable to IXSPs that do use DALs would immediately apply.
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H) Replace the title in Item 304 (2) with "Overseas and Canada-U.S. Circuits".
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I) Replace all of the text in Item 304(2) with the following:
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a) For each overseas circuit that uses an international interconnection point located in an ILEC's operating territory and for each Canada-U.S. circuit that crosses the border at a point located in an ILEC's operating territory, the contribution charges specified below apply. The determination of whether or not an individual carrier or other service provider is DAL surcharge exempt is based on the exempt/non-exempt status of the carrier or other service provider that hands off the international traffic directly to or receives this traffic directly from the Class A Licensee. Where the originating/terminating carrier or other service provider is also the Class A licensee, it is the status of the originating/terminating carrier or other service provider that applies.
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Contribution charge, each minute of traffic
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i) Carriers and other service providers which use DALs, other than the ILECs (see notes 1 and 2)
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Peak period effective 2000-01-01
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Off-peak period effective 2000-01-01
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$0.0075
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$0.0038
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ii) ILECs, carriers and other service providers that have attested they do not use DALs (see notes 1 and 2)
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Peak period effective 2000-01-01
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Off-peak period effective 2000-01-01
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$0.0066
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$0.0033
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Note 1 - For the purpose of per-minute contribution, peak period is deemed to be 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Friday local time and off-peak period is deemed to be all other times including all day Saturday and Sunday.
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Note 2 - An attestation that an IXSP does not use DALs requires that the IXSP provide an affidavit to the applicable ILEC and the Commission, sworn by a senior officer of said IXSP, attesting to the fact that the IXSP does not use any DALs to originate or terminate traffic in the applicable ILEC's operating territory. The affidavit must be resubmitted on an annual basis and include a statement that if, during the year, the IXSP uses any DALs, the IXSP will notify the Commission immediately, serving a copy on the applicable ILEC, and the contribution rate applicable to IXSPs that do use DALs would immediately apply.
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b) Class A licensees are required to report detailed monthly contribution minute information to the applicable ILEC, the Commission and the Central Fund Administrator within 60 days of the end of the applicable month, as follows:
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i) with respect to contribution-eligible international traffic that the licensee transports between Canada and the United States using circuit switching protocol on telecommunications facilities operated by the licensee, the licensee shall a) report all contribution-eligible minutes to the ILEC in whose territory a Canada-U.S. circuit crosses the border, and b) remit to the ILEC the applicable contribution charges as specified in the ILEC's tariffs;
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ii) with respect to contribution-eligible international traffic that the licensee transports between Canada and a country other than the United States using circuit switching protocol on telecommunications facilities operated by the licensee, the licensee shall a) report all contribution-eligible minutes to the ILEC in whose territory the gateway switch (i.e., the last point of switching for outbound minutes and the first point of switching for inbound minutes) is located, and b) remit to the ILEC the applicable contribution charges as specified in the ILEC's tariffs;
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iii) with respect to contribution-eligible international traffic that the licensee converts from circuit-switched minutes originating in Canada to non-circuit-switched traffic, or from non-circuit-switched traffic to circuit-switched minutes terminating in Canada, the licensee shall a) report all contribution-eligible minutes as measured at the point of conversion to the ILEC in whose territory the conversion occurs, and b) remit to the ILEC the applicable contribution charges as specified in the ILEC's tariffs; and
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iv) all minutes reported in i), ii) and iii) above shall be split by peak and off-peak periods and, where possible, by type of domestic service provider (i.e., ILEC versus other IXSPs).
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In cases in which the licensee has no traffic to report, the licensee shall provide a nil report to the ILEC, the Central Fund Administrator and the Commission.
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c) Class A licensees are required to provide a quarter-ending report to the applicable ILEC, the Commission and the Central Fund Administrator within 60 days of the end of the applicable quarter, as follows:
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i) an affidavit signed by a senior officer of the licensee, attesting to the completeness and accuracy of the contribution reports and remittances covering the past three months;
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ii) the number of Canada-U.S. and Canada-Overseas circuits (in units of DS-1 equivalent), as of the last day of the quarter, on which it has measured international contribution-eligible minutes in the preceding three months; and
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iii) a declaration of the existence of protocol conversion points, by ILEC territory, at which international contribution-eligible circuit-switched minutes originating in Canada are converted to non-circuit-switched traffic or at which non-circuit-switched international traffic is converted to contribution-eligible circuits-switched minutes terminating in Canada.
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The affidavit shall state, if there is no traffic to report, why the licensee has no traffic to report.
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d) As an alternative to providing monthly and quarterly reports to the applicable ILEC as noted in paragraphs c) and d) above, the class A licensee may choose to provide these reports to an affiliated CLEC, including CNCI, with which such class A licensee has a preferred relationship, as defined in the Central Fund Administration Agreement, and to remit the applicable contribution payment to that CLEC. When a class A licensee elects to use this alternative reporting method, that class A licensee must advise the applicable ILEC in writing of this choice, at least one month prior to the date the change becomes effective.
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J) Replace the last paragraph of Item 304 (3) (a) with the following:
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The IXSP must apply to the Commission on a case-by-case basis and provide evidence satisfactory to the Commission that by reasons of the technical, economic or operational characteristics of the service, it is unlikely that the connections will be used significantly for joint-use interexchange services.
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K) Replace the text in Item 304 (3) (b) with the following: "The contribution charges specified in section 2 of this item do not apply to:
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- international data traffic; or
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- international voice traffic carried on a facility dedicated to the use of one customer; or
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- international transit traffic that does not connect to the Canadian public switched telephone network (PSTN).
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An application to the Commission for a contribution exemption with respect to international traffic is not required except in the following three instances:
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- where switched domestic traffic is routed through another country on non-dedicated facilities; or
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- where domestic traffic is routed through another country by a licensee but is not controlled by the licensee when it re-enters Canada; or
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- where international traffic is routed through another country to reach an international gateway in another part of Canada.
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When any of the above three situations apply, the licensee shall apply to the Commission on a case-by-case basis and provide evidence satisfactory to the Commission that it can accurately track and record contribution-eligible minutes on the facilities in question.
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L) Insert the following text in Item 304 (3) (c):
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Where a competitive pay telephone service provider uses interconnecting circuits which are not directly connected to an interexchange network provided by the competitive pay telephone service provider or by another interexchange service provider, the contribution charges specified in Item 302.1 do not apply. An application to the Commission for a contribution exemption is not required.
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Secretary General
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This document is available in alternative format upon request and may also be examined at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca
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