ARCHIVED - Letter

Ottawa, 16 April 2010

Our Reference:  8638-C12-200817505
8638-C12-200817512
8638-C12-200817520

BY E-MAIL

Mr. Denis E. Henry
Vice-President – Legal, Regulatory and Government Affairs
and Chief of Privacy
Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Partnership
160 Elgin Street, 19th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario  K2P 2C4
regulatory@bell.aliant.ca

Mr. Mirko Bibic
Senior Vice-President – Government and Regulatory Affairs
Bell Canada
160 Elgin Street, 19th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario  K2P 2C4
bell.regulatory@bell.ca

Dear Sirs:

Re:  Follow-up to Use of deferral accounts to improve access to telecommunications services for persons with disabilities and to expand broadband services to rural and remote communities, Telecom Decision CRTC 2008-1 (Telecom Decision 2008-1)

To further assist the Commission in its consideration of the proposals of Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Partnership and Bell Canada (the Bell companies) to dispose of the funds remaining in their deferral accounts, the Bell companies are requested to provide a response to additional interrogatories provided in the attachment by 27 April 2010.

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by

Lynne Fancy
Director General
Competition, Costing & Tariffs
Telecommunications

c.c.:  Donald R. Heale, CRTC, (819) 997-2755, donald.heale@crtc.gc.ca 

Encl.: Interrogatories
Distribution

Attachment

Interrogatories for the Bell companies

1001. Refer to: 1) Table 4 of The Companies(CRTC)9Mar10-506 DA Attachment Appendix 1 filed on 30 March 2010; and 2) Tables 3A and 3B of the Appendix 5 Attachment associated with the five year roll-out plan and supplemental plan filed as part of the Broadband Expansion Proposal submitted in 1 September 2006.

Provide a detailed explanation with supporting rationale for the increase of each of:
1) backbone upfront capital expenditures (allocated costs, electronics, fibre and associated structures); 2) access costs upfront capital expenditures; and 3) IP core/cloud upfront capital expenditures costs for each of the following communities:

a. Acton

b. Armstrong

c. Gogama

d. Henryville

e. Kaministiquia

f. La Patrie

g. Lanark

h. Ridgeway

i. South River

j. Tamworth

1002. Refer to: 1) Table 1 of Bell Canada(CRTC)5Dec06-308 PN 2006-15 Attachment filed on 30 March 2010; and 2) Table 5 of The Companies(CRTC)9March2010-506 DA Attachment Appendix 1 filed on 30 March 2010.  For each of outside plant and switching equipment costs:

a. Provide a detailed explanation with supporting rationale for the increase in costs from 2006 to 2010 cost study.  Further explain why these costs which are causal to demand do not change in proportion to the demand.

b. Provide a comparison of the major cost components between 2006 and 2010 cost studies above and explain how each of these major cost components was estimated with supporting rationale for the differences.  The response should also provide installed first costs and associated demand for each of the major cost components.

1003. Refer to: 1) Table 5 of the Attachment Appendix to the revised study report for the High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) solution filed on 30 March 2010; 2) Table 5 of The Companies(CRTC)9Mar10-506 DA Attachment Appendix 1 filed on 30 March 2010; and 3) Table 1 of Bell Canada(CRTC)5Dec06-308 PN 2006-15 Attachment filed on 19 February 2007.

a. With regard to the three tables referenced above, explain how each of service provisioning, maintenance, and billing expenses were estimated by providing methodology and assumptions, cost factors, drivers (units or time estimates), unit costs and or explicit estimates.

b. With regard to the table referenced in 2) and 3) above, explain why the expenses have not changed in proportion to change in demand. The response should include an explanation for the changes in assumptions and methodology with supporting rationale.

1004. In their response to The Companies(CRTC)9March10-501DA a) and b) filed on 30 March 2010, the Bell companies stated that internet service requirements drive the design and costs of the proposed HSPA network, not the requirements for mobile voice services.

a. Explain why Network Costs of goods sold should be included in the calculation of the margin for the Bell Mobility voice service if the capital and ongoing costs of the HSPA network are covered by the deferral account fund.

b. Provide an update to Table 1 of the Attachment Appendix Revised to the updated study report for the HSPA solution filed on 30 March 2010 assuming the that Network Costs of Goods sold is not included in the calculation of the margin.

c. Provide the present worth of the margin for the Bell Mobility voice service with and without Network Costs of Goods.

1005. In their response to The Companies(CRTC)9March10-501 DA d) filed on 30 March 2010, the Bell companies stated that they included an average of one Ethernet access facility per community in their economic study but that the Ethernet facilities will only be placed for the Broadband Expansion Service (BES) that the Bell companies propose to make available to Alternative Broadband Service Providers (ABSPs) and only once ABSP requests access to BES.  Provide the present worth of the annualized costs (PWAC) of these Ethernet access facilities included in the cost study.

1006. In their response to The Companies(CRTC)9Mar10-503 DA filed on 30 March 2010, the Bell companies stated that if the address of a prospective customer does not fall within the boundary of a Distribution Serving Area approved for deferral account funding, the prospective customer will not be allowed to subscribe to their deferral account-funded broadband service.  Assuming that this prospective customer can be served by the Bell companies proposed HSPA wireless network serving that community, what broadband service(s) (if any) will such a customer be permitted to purchase.  Describe the rates, speeds, usage allowances and terms and conditions of such service(s).

1007. In the attachment to their response to The Companies(CRTC)9Mar10-505 DA filed on
30 March 2010, the Bell companies have identified 45 communities where mobile voice service is currently available and 48 communities where mobile voice service is currently partially available.

a. For each of these communities identify whether the mobile voice service is currently provided over the Bell companies’ HSPA network or another Bell companies’ wireless network.

b. For each community where another wireless network is employed identify what, if any wireless broadband service provided by the Bell companies is currently available to that community.

1008. Refer to: 1) Table 1 – Summary of  Results of the Attachment Appendix Revised to the updated study report for the HSPA solution filed on 30 March 2010; and 2) Table 1 of The Companies(CRTC)9Mar10-506 DA Attachment Appendix 2 filed on 30 March 2010 for the hybrid ( DSL and HSPA) technology option.  Provide revisions to these two tables assuming that the average HSPA technology subscriber will be billed for 5 GB of additional usage per month.

Distribution

regulatory.affairs@telus.com; document.control@sasktel.sk.ca; iworkstation@mtsallstream.com; bell.regulatory@bell.ca; telecom.regulatory@cogeco.com; michel.messier@cogeco.com; reglementation@xittel.net; ken.engelhaert@rci.rogers.com; natalie.macdonald@corp.eastlink.ca; cedwards@ccsa.cable.ca; pdowns@nexicomgroup.net; glennb@nor-del.com; nicole.springer@axia.com; eric.banville@axion.ca; regulatory.matters@corp.eastlink.ca; steve@wtccommunications.ca; piac@piac.ca; regulatory@bell.aliant.ca; fmenard@xittelecom.com; johnm@barrettxplore.com; s.cloutier@axion.ca; billm@barrettxplore.com; jonathan.holmes@ota.on.ca; tim.deweerd@quadro.net; pdowns@nexicom.net; gosfield@gosfieldtel.com; wagrier@1000island.net; deborah.shaffner@corp.eastlink.ca; vp.finances@sogetel.com; grubb@hurontel.on.ca;  rbanks@mornington.ca;  steve@wtccommunications.ca;  roxboro@ontarioeast.net;  sachuter@tcc.on.ca;  jpatry@telcourcelles.qc.ca;  nantel@tellambton.net;  telstep@telstep.net;  paul.frappier@telmilot.com;  pwightman@wightman.ca;  a.schneider@hay.net;  alain.duhaime@sogetel.com;  regulatoryaffairs@nwtel.ca;  j-fmathieu@telupton.qc.ca;  gcordeau@maskatel.qc.ca;  lisa.marogna@cwct.ca;  nfrontenac@kw.igs.net;  rob.olenick@tbaytel.com ;  tracy.cant@ontera.ca;  rroy@telwarwick.qc.ca;   lisa.marogna@citywest.ca; 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Date modified:

2007-01-05