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Telecom Decision CRTC 2003-67
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Ottawa, 2 October 2003
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Modifications to the affiliate rule
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Reference: SaskTel Tariff Notice 42
TCI Tariff Notice 82
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In this decision, the Commission approves applications by Saskatchewan Telecommunications and TELUS Communications Inc. for proposed tariff revisions to reflect the Commission's modifications to the affiliate rule relating to affiliates of incumbent local exchange carriers in Regulatory safeguards with respect to incumbent affiliates, bundling by Bell Canada and related matters, Telecom Decision CRTC 2002-76, 12 December 2002. The Commission also directs Aliant Telecom Inc., Bell Canada, MTS Communications Inc., Société en commandite Télébec and TELUS Communications (Québec) Inc. to modify their tariffs to comply with Telecom Order CRTC 97-1176, 27 August 1997 within 10 days of the date of this decision.
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1.
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The Commission received applications by Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel) and TELUS Communications Inc. (TCI), each dated 27 January 2003, to revise the following tariff items in order to reflect the Commission's modifications to the affiliate rule in Regulatory safeguards with respect to incumbent affiliates, bundling by Bell Canada and related matters, Telecom Decision CRTC 2002-76, 12 December 2002 (Decision 2002-76):
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- SaskTel General Tariff item 80, Resale and Sharing;
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- SaskTel General Tariff item 82, Definitions;
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- TCI General Tariff item 128, Provision of TCI Services to TCI Affiliates;
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- the former TCI General Tariff item 130, Resale and Sharing of Services; and
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- the former TELUS Communications (B.C.) Inc. General Tariff item 24, Resale
and Sharing.
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2.
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The Commission received no comments with respect to the applications.
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Commission's analysis and determination
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3.
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In Telecom Order CRTC 97-1176, 27 August 1997 (Order 97-1176), the Commission determined that a customer was deemed not to act as a reseller or a sharing group if the services it purchased from an incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) were used only by the customer and the customer's affiliates. The Commission determined that the definition of an affiliate as it applies to situations where customers are related to each other (customer affiliates) includedrelated persons.
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4.
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In Decision 2002-76, the Commission revised the definition of an affiliate as it applies to situations where companies are related to an ILEC (ILEC affiliates), to eliminate the reference to related persons. The Commission notes that this revision was made in the context of the Commission's modification of the conditions on access to all ILEC tariffed services by ILEC affiliates that are not Canadian carriers.
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5.
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The Commission considers that the definition of affiliate as revised in Decision 2002-76 was not applicable to customer affiliates.The Commission further considers that the determinations made in Order 97-1176 defining a customer affiliate, for the purposes of clarifying when a customer is not a reseller or sharing group, remain appropriate.
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6.
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The Commission notes that SaskTel's and TCI's applications proposed revisions to their tariffs that differentiated between ILEC affiliates and customer affiliates. Under the terms of the companies' applications, a customer would continue not to be deemed to act as a reseller or sharing group if the services it purchased from the ILEC were used only by the customer and the customer's affiliates, including related persons. Thus, the two applications as filed continued to apply the definition of customer affiliate as directed in Order 97-1176. The Commission finds that SaskTel's and TCI's applications apply the correct definition in this regard.
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7.
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In light of the above, the Commission approves SaskTel's and TCI's applications. The revisions take effect as of the date of this decision.
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8.
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The Commission notes that tariff notices filed by Aliant Telecom Inc. (Aliant Telecom), Bell Canada, MTS Communications Inc. (MTS), Société en commandite Télébec (Télébec) and TELUS Communications (Québec) Inc. (TELUS Québec) and approved, respectively, by the Commission in Telecom Order CRTC 2003-94, 28 February 2003, Telecom Order CRTC 2003-95, 28 February 2003, Telecom Order CRTC 2003-150, 11 April 2003, Telecom Order CRTC 2003-151, 11 April 2003, and Telecom Order CRTC 2003-199, 22 May 2003, did not propose revisions that differentiated between ILEC affiliates and customer affiliates. The Commission considers that these companies' tariffs no longer apply the appropriate definition of customer affiliate.
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9.
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The Commission directs Aliant Telecom, Bell Canada, MTS, Télébec and TELUS Québec to modify their tariffs to comply with Order 97-1176 within 10 days of the date of this decision.
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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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Date Modified: 2003-10-02