ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission Letter - 8622-C51-200805153

Letter

Ottawa, 19 June 2008

File No.:   8622-C51-200805153     

Mr. Mirko Bibic,
Chief, Regulatory Affairs
Bell Canada
110 O'Connor Street, 14 th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario   K1P 1H1
bell.regulatory@bell.ca

Dear Mr. Bibic:

Re: Application requesting certain orders directing Bell Canada to cease and desist from "throttling" its wholesale ADSL Access Services

This letter addresses the requests made by the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) on 6 June 2008 for the disclosure of information for which confidentiality was claimed by Bell Canada in its responses to certain interrogatories in the above-noted proceeding.

On 13 June 2007 the Commission received Bell Canada 's response to CAIP 's requests for disclosure.

Requests for disclosure of information for which confidentiality was claimed are addressed in light of sections 38 and 39 of the Telecommunications Act and section 19 of the CRTC Telecommunications Rules of Procedure (the Rules).  In evaluating a request, an assessment is made as to whether there is any specific direct harm likely to result from the disclosure of the information in question.  In making this evaluation, a number of factors are taken into consideration, including the degree of competition that exists in a particular market or that is expected to occur.   All things being equal, the greater the degree of actual or expected competition, the greater the specific direct harm that could be expected to result from disclosure.   Another factor is the expected usefulness of the information at issue to parties in furthering their competitive position.  In this regard, an important consideration is the degree to which the information at issue is disaggregated.  Generally speaking, the more aggregated the information, the less likelihood that specific direct harm will flow from its disclosure.

Even where specific direct harm may result, this harm must be balanced against, and outweigh the public interest in disclosure in order to qualify for confidentiality. In certain circumstances, specific direct harm from disclosure may still be outweighed by the public interest in disclosure.

Having regard to the considerations set out above, Commission staff has determined, based on all the material before it, that no specific direct harm would likely result from disclosure, or that the public interest in disclosure outweighs any specific direct harm that might result from disclosure, of the information specified in the Attachment to this letter.

Unless otherwise expressly indicated, Bell Canada is to place on the public record all of the information specified in the Attachment by 23 June 2008, serving a copy on CAIP by the same date.  These submissions must be received, not merely sent, by that date.

As a result of the above process to dispose of CAIP's request for disclosure of information in respect of which a claim of confidentiality has been made, the process set out in Commission staff's 15 May letter for filing submissions in relation to CAIP's original application is modified as follows:

•  Interested parties (other than Bell Canada and CAIP) may file with the Commission, serving a copy on Bell Canada and CAIP, comments with regard to the issues raised by CAIP in its application by 3 July 2008.

•  Bell Canada may file with the Commission, serving a copy on CAIP, its answer by 10 July 2008.

•  CAIP may file with the Commission, serving a copy on Bell Canada , a reply by 17 July 2008.

Documents to be filed and served in accordance with the above process must be received, not merely sent, by the dates indicated.

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by

Paul Godin
Director General,
Competition, Costing and Tariffs
Telecommunications

cc:   Tom Copeland, CAIP, tom@eagle.ca

attach (1)

Attachment

Disclosure of information for which confidentiality was claimed

Bell Canada (CRTC)15May08-2a) CAIP Part VII

Bell Canada is to disclose the following information on the public record:

1. The link utilization thresholds on page 3 of 15
2. The link congestion criterion on page 4 of 15

Bell Canada (CRTC)15May08-2b) CAIP Part VII and Bell Canada (CRTC)10Jun08-1

Bell Canada is to disclose the following information related to the chart on page 5 of 15 of its response to Bell Canada(CRTC)15May08-2b) on the public record, using the numerical information, including the total number of links (i.e. congested and non-congested) in its network provided in response to Bell Canada(CRTC)10Jun08-1: