ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission Letter - 8663-C12-200706575

Letter

Ottawa, 14 June 2007

Our File: 8663-C12-200706575

By E-Mail

Mr. Mirko Bibic
Chief, Regulatory Affairs
Bell Canada

Dear Mr. Bibic:

Re: MTS request with respect to the Companies' comments in the Public Notice 2007-6 proceeding

The Commission has received a letter from MTS Allstream, dated 1 June 2007 , submitting that Appendix 1 of the Companies' comments goes into the substantive matter of how the Policy Direction should be applied, is out of scope and therefore should be struck from the record of this proceeding.

The Commission has also received a letter from the Companies, dated 6 June 2007, submitting that the priority setting exercise initiated by the Commission in Public Notice 2007-6 involves a preliminary assessment of the impacts of regulatory measures in light of the Policy Direction.   The Companies submitted that Appendix 1 of their submission assisted in their preliminary assessment and that it is therefore within the scope of issues on which the Commission has sought comment.   On this basis the Companies submitted that MTS Allstream's claims should be dismissed.

Commission staff notes that in Application of criteria contained in Order in Council P.C. 2006-1534 - Order Issuing a Direction to the CRTC on Implementing the Canadian Telecommunications Policy Objectives, Telecom Public Notice 2007-6 (Public Notice 2007-6) the Commission stated that it "wishes to undertake the review of the required regulatory measures in an efficient and effective manner that allows it to deal first with the most important issues in a timely fashion."   The Commission therefore invited parties to comment on:

a) which regulatory measure should the Commission review;

b) what priority should be placed on reviewing each measure and why; and

c) for each regulatory measure, an estimated reasonable time frame   for the Commission to complete its review.

Commission staff considers that it is clear that Public Notice 2007-6 invited parties to comment on their priorities with respect to the Commission's review, and not with respect to the substantive matter of how the Policy Direction should be applied.

In light of the above Commission staff considers that the Companies' Appendix 1 is outside the scope of this proceeding and should not be considered part of the record of this proceeding.  

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by

Fiona Gilfillan
A/ Associate Executive Director, Telecommunications

c.c:   Adam Mills (819) 997-4574
        William Lloyd (819) 997-4654
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