ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission Letter - 8663-C12-200614439

Letter

Ottawa, 6 June 2007

File Number: 8663-C12-200614439

By Electronic mail

To: Interested Parties List - PN 2006-14

Re:    Review of regulatory framework for wholesale services and definition of essential service - Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2006-14

On 1 June 2007, the Commission received a request from Cybersurf Corp. (Cybersurf) seeking a revision to certain procedural dates related to Review of regulatory framework for wholesale services and definition of essential service, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2006-14, 9 November 2006, as amended by Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2006-14-1, 15 December 2006, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2006-14-2, 15 February 2007, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2006-14-3, 16 March 2007, and Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2006-14-4, 20 March 2007, and Commission staff's letter dated 7 May 2007 (Public Notice 2006-14).

Pursuant to paragraphs 43 through 48 inclusive of Public Notice 2006-14, the Commission has established procedures related to the filing of supplementary material, interrogatories and associated responses as follows:

43.  Parties who filed evidence pursuant to paragraph 37 may file supplementary material in response to other parties' evidence, responses to interrogatories and the other information filed pursuant to paragraphs 38, 39 and 42.   Each party's supplementary material must include an executive summary no longer than 10 pages in length.   Parties filing supplementary material are to do so with the Commission, serving a copy on all parties, by 5 July 2007 .

44.   Parties may address additional interrogatories to any party who filed evidence pursuant to paragraph 37.   Any such interrogatories must be filed with the Commission and served on the relevant party or parties by 19 July 2007 .

45.   Responses to interrogatories addressed pursuant to paragraph 44 are to be filed with the Commission and served on all parties by 2 August 2007 .

46.   Requests by parties for further responses to their interrogatories, specifying in each case why a further response is both relevant and necessary, and requests for public disclosure of information for which confidentiality has been claimed, setting out in each case the reasons for disclosure, must be filed with the Commission and served on the relevant party or parties by 9 August 2007 .

47.   Written responses to requests for further responses to interrogatories and for public disclosure must be filed with the Commission and served on the party or parties making the request by 16 August 2007 .

48.   A determination will be issued with respect to requests for further information and public disclosure as soon as possible.   Any information to be provided pursuant to that determination will be filed with the Commission and served on all interested parties by 6 September 2007 .

Cybersurf requested that the procedural dates noted above be revised such that:

• supplementary material be filed and served 19 July 2007 ;

• additional interrogatories be filed and served 2 August 2007 ;

• interrogatory responses be filed and served 6 September 2007 ;

• requests for further responses and public disclosure of confidential information are to be filed and served 13 September 2007 ;

• responses to requests for further responses and public disclosure be filed and served 20 September 2007 ; and

• information provided pursuant to the determination with respect to requests for further responses and public disclosure of confidential information to be filed and served 4 October 2007 .

In support of its request, Cybersurf stated that the period of time provided for the completion of second round materials in response to the extensive first round materials filed and still being filed in this proceeding, is particularly burdensome for a participant such as Cybersurf, that possesses very limited legal and regulatory resources.

Commission staff notes that evidence was filed with the Commission with regard to Public Notice 2006-14 on 15 March 2007 , and that interrogatories related to that evidence were filed with the Commission and served on parties on 12 April 2007 .   Staff also notes that the Public Notice 2006-14 procedural dates noted above were set out when the Commission amended Public Notice 2006-14 on 16 March 2007 .   Staff considers that all parties, including Cybersurf, were fully aware of the complexity and volume of material that parties had submitted as evidence in the proceeding, as well as the subsequent procedural dates, in mid-March 2007.   Staff also considers that all parties have made various commitments as a result of the schedule fixed in mid-March 2007.

Staff considers that Cybersurf's proposed schedule dates insufficiently take into consideration the oral hearing scheduled to commence 9 October 2007 pursuant to paragraph 49 of Public Notice 2006-14.   Were Cybersurf's request to be granted and all the dates changed accordingly, the last material would be served and filed on the second last business day before the oral hearing.   In that case, in staff's view, parties and the Commission would have insufficient time, prior to the hearing, to properly review and assess such material, and could be prejudiced in that regard.

Consequently, Cybersurf's request is denied.

Yours sincerely,

(Original signed by)

Robert G. Martin
Senior Manager, Essential Services
Telecommunications
Tel:          819-953-3361
email:       robert.martin@crtc.gc.ca