ARCHIVED - Telecom - Commission Letter - 8638-C12-46/01 - BMT Committee, May 24thmeeting

Letter

Ottawa, 1 May 2001

To: distribution list

Object: BMT Committee, May 24^th meeting

Our second Bill Management Tools (BMT) Committee meeting will be held May 24^th, in Hull (Québec), from 9h30 to 17h00. An agenda will be sent to participants on May 17^th.

Please confirm your presence as soon as possible.

In preparation for our meeting, theCommittee requests that all telephone companies on the distribution list provide the following information (items 1 to 4 inclusively) to the Commission by the dates specified below. Commission staff will compile the information received into a form that will facilitate comparisons between companies and send it to the distribution list, no later than May 17^th.

1. Provide, separately for calendar year 1999 and calendar year 2000, the take rate for your company's installation payment plan (IPP), calculated according to the following two methods:

The total number of residential subscribers who availed themselves of the IPP during the calendar year divided by the total number of new residential subscribers in that calendar year (expressed as a percentage).

The total number of residential subscribers who availed themselves of the IPP during the calendar year divided by the total residential NAS as at year end (expressed as a per thousand).

File with the Commission no later than May 11^th.

2. List all blocking options offered by your company (e.g. direct dial toll blocking, collect toll call blocking, 3rd party toll blocking, 900/976 call blocking, directory assistance blocking and all other blocking options offered).

Then provide, separately for calendar year 1999 and calendar year 2000, the take rate for each blocking option offered, calculated according to the following three methods:

a) The total number of residential subscribers who subscribed at their own initiative to that blocking option in the calendar year divided by the total residential NAS at year end (expressed as a per thousand);

b) The total number of residential subscribers who subscribed at the company's initiative to that blocking option in the calendar year divided by the total residential NAS at year end (expressed as a per thousand); and

c) The total number of residential subscribers who subscribed (both at their own initiative and the company's) to that blocking option in the calendar year divided by the total residential NAS at year end (expressed as a per thousand).

If a company offers six blocking options, for example, it should therefore provide 18 numbers for each calendar year. All numbers should be expressed as a per thousand.

File with the Commission no later than May 14^th.

3. Provide complete functionality description on each blocking option offered by the company.

File with the Commission no later than May 14^th.

4. Identify all blocking options that are available separately and provide complete explanation regarding the policy (including charges for reactivation) of selective reinstallation of blocked services (e.g. reactivate 1+ but maintain blocking on collect toll calls).

File with the Commission no later than May 14^th.

All documents to be filed with the Commission should be filed electronically at: procedure@crtc.gc.ca. and copied to philippe.tousignant@crtc.gc.ca.

The Committee also requests all telephone companies on the distribution list to provide the following information to the Commission and to all participants by the dates specified below.

5. On April 2^nd all agreed that we needed a clearer picture of the conditions under which the company's client services offer BMTs to customers and of the associated costs or problems if they were to be routinely offered. Therefore, all the companies are to provide a complete description of circumstances under which the company's Client Services Representatives (CSR) offer BMTs to customers. List these separately for IPP, toll restrict and other blocking options.

Also, if the company were to offer the IPP to all new subscribers, provide estimated additional cost per new subscriber.

File no later than May 17^th.

6. Quote all policies, guidelines and specific instructions given to CSRs to deal with bad debt repayment by residential subscribers. Also provide the information given to subscribers regarding their rights and obligations on this issue. Identify all the means by which subscribers and potential subscribers are made aware of their rights and obligations with respect to overdue debts, and list all different times when a subscriber or potential subscriber is made aware of such rights and obligation. Also address fully whether the company applies a different policy to subscribers having difficulty paying as compared to former subscribers wanting to reconnect but prevented by outstanding debts.

File no later than May 17^th.

7. In order to evaluate the possibility of mailing bill inserts in provincial or territorial government mailings, the following companies are asked to obtain from government departments (that do monthly income security mailings), information on whether they would agree to include an insert on BMTs in mailings to their clients (and, if so, any conditions that must be met). This information is required by May 17^th, and should include the approximate number of households reached for each mailing and the list of agencies contacted.

Bell Canada: Ontario and Québec

Alliant: New-Brunswick, Nova-Scotia, Prince-Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador

MTS: Manitoba

Sasktel : Saskatchewan

Telus : British Columbia and Alberta

NorthWestTel : Northwest, Nunavut and Yukon Territories

The Committee requests consumer organisations to provide the following information to the Commission and to all participants no later than May 17th 2001:

8. Would ARC and NAPO be prepared to promote BMTs within their constituencies? How they would propose to do so? Would any conditions apply? If they are not prepared to promote BMTs within their constituencies, explain why not.

9. From ARC, NAPO and PIAC, a list of federations or national groups or social agencies that, in their view, would be effective in promoting BMTs to consumers who 1) do not have telephone service or 2) have affordability problems. The list should include as much contact information as possible.

Finally, Commission staff will contact Human Resources Development Canada in order to evaluate this department's potential in a co-operative approach to the promotion of BMTs. The Commission will provide the information gathered to all participants on May 17^th.

All documents to be filed with the Commission should be filed electronically at: procedure@crtc.gc.ca and copied to philippe.tousignant@crtc.gc.ca. The e-mail addresses of participants are provided on the distribution list and should be used when sending information to participants.

Best Wishes,

Philippe Tousignant,
CRTC
Telecommunications
819-997-1334