ARCHIVED - Telecom - Commission Letter - 8665-C12-15/02 - Telecom Public Notice CRTC2002-2: 900 Service - Agreements and Consumer Safeguards

Ottawa, 17 May 2002

File number 2002.8665.C12.15

By E-mail
Fax copy to follow

Interested Parties

Re: Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2002-2: 900 Service - Agreements and Consumer Safeguards

1.  In its letter dated 14 May 2002, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), on behalf of ARC et al, requested a modification to the procedure set out in Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2002-2 (PN 2002-2), to allow parties to obtain relevant information by way of interrogatories prior to the filing of comments.

2.  In its request for this modification, PIAC submitted that in preparing comments, ARC et al have been limited by a lack of information on the record of the proceeding, such as information about the nature and extent of problems with 900 services, existing consumer safeguards and telephone company practices, and the costs and benefits of proposed new consumer protection measures.

3.  In a letter dated 17 May 2002, Aliant Telecom Inc., Bell Canada, MTS Communications Inc., and Telus Communications Inc. (the Companies) responded to this request. The Companies opposed the request and submitted the following reasons for doing so:

• There was a delay by PIAC in making its request, given that the PN 2002-2 was issued on 9 April 2002;
• Tariff Notices 740 and 741 were filed on 28 November 2001 and 19 December 2001 respectively; however, neither PIAC nor the groups it represents submitted any comments at that time;
• PIAC's request would add a number of weeks to the PN 2002-2 proceeding
• The timing of PIAC's request is disruptive, given the anticipated release of the Commission's decision in the Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2001-37 proceeding at the end of May and the reassignment of staff within the Companies in order to prepare follow-up activities associated with this decision.

 4.  The Companies also submitted that, if the request for an additional interrogatory process were to be granted, the Companies should be given an adequate time to prepare their responses. In this case, the Companies proposed the following timetable: 30 calendar days to prepare answers to interrogatories; comments due 21 days later; reply comments due a further 10 days later.

5.  In view of the foregoing, Commission staff considers the request for an additional interrogatory process reasonable, given the public interest in the establishment of a full record with regard to consumer safeguards and TNs 740 and 741 upon which to base the Commission's determination.

6.  Accordingly, the process as set out in PN 2002-2 is amended as follows:

• Interested parties may pose interrogatories to other interested parties by 27 May 2002;
  
• Paragraph 19: Interested parties are to file responses to the interrogatories posed to them, serving copies on all parties, by 26 June 2002.
  
• Paragraph 20: Any members of the public who only wish to file written comments, without receiving copies of the various submissions, may do so by submitting their comments to the Secretary General by mail at CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N2, by fax at (819) 953-0795 or by email at procedure@crtc.gc.ca no later than 18 July 2002.

• Paragraph 21: Interested parties may file comments with the Commission with regard to consumer safeguards and other interested parties may file comments with the Commission with regard to consumer safeguards and TNs 740 and 741, serving copies on all other parties, by 18 July 2002.

• Paragraph 22: Interested parties who have responded to the interrogatories may file reply comments with regard to consumer safeguards and TNs 740 and 741, and other interested parties may file reply comments with regard to consumer safeguards, serving copies on all parties, by 28 July 2002.

Where a document is to be filed or served by a specific date, the document must be actually received, not merely sent, by that date.

Yours sincerely,

Shirley Soehn
Executive Director

c.c. Crawford Sharp (819) 997-4580

Date modified:

2002-05-17