ARCHIVED - Telecom Order CRTC 2011-310
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Ottawa, 11 May 2011
TELUS Communications Company – Destandardization of ProxiRéseau Service
File numbers: Tariff Notices 556 and 556A
1. The Commission received an application by TELUS Communications Company (TCC), dated 15 February 2011 and amended on 7 March 2011, in which the company proposed revisions to TELUS Communications (Québec) Inc.’s General Tariff item 5.01.01 – ProxiRéseau Service in order to destandardize this service, effective 9 May 2011.
2. ProxiRéseau Service is a digital network service that allows communication between two points located up to 60 miles apart at speeds of 56/64 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1536 kbps. The two points may be located within a given TCC administrative region or on a circuit between a TCC exchange and another interconnected carrier’s exchange.
3. TCC indicated that ProxiRéseau Service is currently available only in Quebec, and that it wishes to provide uniform services across the provinces in order to manage its operations more efficiently. In this regard, TCC indicated that it already offers its national digital network service in Quebec, Interexchange Digital Private Line Services,[1] and that this service provides the same features as ProxiRéseau Service.
4. TCC proposed that its customers who had already signed a contract for ProxiRéseau Service would continue receiving this service until the end of their contract, and that customers without a contract would continue receiving this service until 31 December 2015. In both cases, TCC proposed that customers would then be transferred to Interexchange Digital Private Line Services. TCC indicated that it would not bill any service fees to ProxiRéseau Service customers for the transfers.
5. The Commission received no comments regarding TCC’s application. The public record of this proceeding, which closed on 18 March 2011, is available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca under “Public Proceedings” or by using the file numbers provided above.
6. The Commission notes that, when a service is destandardized, current customers of the service may continue to receive it if they make no changes to it until the carrier withdraws the service. The Commission considers that TCC’s proposal to transfer customers who receive ProxiRéseau Service without a contract to Interexchange Digital Private Line Services on 31 December 2015 does not constitute a destandardization of the service but rather a withdrawal. Accordingly, the Commission considers that current customers who receive ProxiRéseau Service without a contract with TCC should continue to receive the service if they make no changes to it until an application to withdraw the service is approved.
7. Notwithstanding this issue, the Commission considers that TCC has complied with the requirements set out in Mandatory customer contract renewal notification and requirements for service destandardization/withdrawal, Telecom Decision CRTC 2008-22, 6 March 2008, in which the Commission revised its procedures for dealing with applications to destandardize and/or withdraw tariffed services. The Commission notes in particular that TCC has notified its ProxiRéseau Service customers of its intention to destandardize the service and has identified a service alternative.
8. Accordingly, the Commission considers that TCC’s proposal to destandardize its ProxiRéseau Service is acceptable. However, the Commission concludes that TCC cannot transfer its customers who receive ProxiRéseau Service without a contract to Interexchange Digital Private Line Services on 31 December 2015, as the company proposed, and that TCC must file an application for service withdrawal when it wishes to withdraw ProxiRéseau Service.
9. In light of the above, the Commission approves TCC’s application, subject to the modifications set out in paragraph 8, as of the date of this order.
Secretary General
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