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Ottawa, 16 May 2011
Our reference: 8740-S22-201100875
BY E-MAIL
Mr. Robert Hersche
Director of Regulatory Affairs
Saskatchewan Telecommunications
2121 Saskatchewan Drive
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4P 3Y2
document.control@sasktel.sk.ca
RE: Tariff Notice 247 – Various Tariff items
Dear Mr. Hersche:
The Commission received an application by Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel), dated 20 January 2011, under Tariff Notice 247, in which the company proposed changes to its General Tariff to
(1) destandardize and withdraw item 300.05 – Feature Package Service;
(2) introduce item 300.10 – Feature Package Service; and
(3) change rates in item 150.15 – SmartTouch Subscription Service.
The Commission received comments on this application from a number of parties and reply comments from SaskTel. In cases where comments are received on an application proposing the destandardization and/or withdrawal of a service, the Commission intends to issue a final decision within 65 business days of the date of the application.
Commission staff notes, however, that the Commission received reply comments from SaskTel dated 20 April 2011, one day before the 65th business day following the date of the application. Therefore, the Commission was unable to dispose of the application within 65 business days. The Commission expects to issue its decision by the end of July 2011.
SaskTel is requested to provide comprehensive answers, including rationale and any supporting information, to the attached questions by 26 May 2011.
Yours sincerely,
‘Original signed by S. Bédard’
Suzanne Bédard
Senior Manager, Tariffs
Telecommunications
cc: Martin Brazeau, CRTC, (819) 997-3498, martin.brazeau@crtc.gc.ca
APPENDIX
1) Refer to item 150.15 - SmartTouch Subscription Service, Attachment 1, Table 4.
Explain, with supporting rationale, why there is no cost in column C – “Category 1 Competitor Services at Tariff” – for Residence Causal to Demand, while there is a cost for Business Causal to Demand. If costs causal to demand for Residence should have been included, revise Table 4.
2) Refer to item 150.15 - SmartTouch Subscription Service, Attachment 1, Table 15.
a) Explain if any service-specific hardware and software are required to provide any of the SmartTouch features available under item 150.15.
b) As described in Attachment 1, paragraph 31, Switching Equipment includes costs associated with Central Processing Unit (CPU) capacity requirements. Indicate whether the cost associated with CPU capacity requirements is the same for each feature. If not, provide the range of costs that apply across all features.
3) Refer to item 150.15 - SmartTouch Subscription Service. For business customers, SaskTel proposed to decrease the monthly rate for the first feature. Provide a cost study in support of the proposed rate decrease from $6.00 to $5.00.
4) Refer to item 150.15 - SmartTouch Subscription Service. For business customers, SaskTel proposed to decrease the Service Connection Charge rate. Provide a cost study in support of the proposed rate decrease from $13.00 to $9.00.
5) Refer to item 150.15 - SmartTouch Subscription Service, Attachment 1, Tables 15 and 16. For Expense Causal to Demand, for the Other category, the costs per access per month appear to have been incorrectly calculated. Provide revised tables to show the correct cost per access per month for Expenses Causal to Demand – Other.
6) Refer to proposed new item 300.10 – Feature Package Service. In its rationale for requesting the destandardization and withdrawal of the package, notification letters to affected customers, and reply comments, SaskTel explained that Voice Mail would be available to customers subscribing to the new package for $2.00 per month. SaskTel indicated that the new package combines SaskTel’s most popular SmartTouch features with the option to add SaskTel’s Basic Voice Mail service at a discounted rate.
Refer to Attachment 2, Table 4 – Feature Package, Present Worth of Revenues and Costs per Access per Month.
a) Identify the cost components included in the “3rd Party Acquisition Costs” category and provide the detailed calculation used to derive the numbers.
b) Indicate if the price floor test includes the revenues and costs associated with Voice Mail.
i) If so, provide the company’s Feature Package costs and revenues per access per month for Voice Mail, and indicate in which category these costs were included. If the cost for Voice Mail used by the company in this application is different than the one filed by the company on 17 July 2008 in support of Tariff Notice 178, and relied on by SaskTel on 20 May 2010 in support of Tariff Notice 238, explain why.
ii) If not,
(1) Provide a detailed description of revenues and costs that are included in Table 4, and
(2) Provide a price floor test for the proposed Feature Package that takes into account the revenues and costs for Voice Mail. The price floor test should clearly indicate how the numbers were derived. If the cost for Voice Mail is different than the one filed by the company on 17 July 2008 in support of Tariff Notice 178, and relied on by SaskTel on 20 May 2010 in support of Tariff Notice 238, explain why.
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