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Ottawa, 18 July 2011

File No: 8740-T66-201109918 

By E-mail

Hal Reirson
Senior Regulatory Advisor
TELUS Communications Company
21-10020-100 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta
T5J 0N5
hal.reirson@telus.com

Dear Sir:

RE:  Tariff Notice 412 – Terms of Service

The Commission received an application by TELUS Communications Company (TCC), dated 23 June 2010, under Tariff Notice 412, in which the company proposed a revision to its General Tariff item 112 – General Terms of Service, Deposits and Deposit Alternatives from Customers, to enable the company to check the credit history of customers.

TCC is requested to file its response to the attached questions by 25 July 2011.

Accordingly, the process for filing interventions on this application is amended as follows:

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


Attachment

In its application, TCC indicated that adding the proposed condition to its General Tariff item 112 – General Terms of Service, Deposits and Deposit Alternatives from Customers, would enable it to (a) check the credit history of customers, (b) verify credit information provided by a customer when applying for service, and (c) exchange customer credit information with other parties, as appropriate.

1)  The proposed condition includes the following provision:

“By applying for, using and incurring charges for the use of the service, the customer applying for service authorizes TELUS to obtain information about the customer’s credit history from time to time.”

a.  Given the situations specified in General Tariff sub-item 112.1, explain why TCC needs the proposed condition to support its decision about whether or not to require a deposit from a customer.

b.  Explain why TCC needs the proposed condition to obtain information about the credit history of a customer applying for service. If additional consent is needed with regard to deposits, explain why it should not be limited in time, scope and purpose – for  example, by obtaining the customer’s express consent only at the time of the situations set out in sub-item 112.1, rather than providing for ongoing consent with no stated termination?

2.  The proposed condition also includes the following provision:

“The customer further authorizes and instructs any person, consumer reporting agent or credit grantor to verify the information the customer provided in an application for service, and consents to the exchange of credit information with others at any time, including the provision of information about the customer’s payment history with TELUS.”

a.  Explain why TCC requires the customer to authorize verification of the information it has provided to TCC – other than the customer’s name, address, and listed telephone number – by any person, consumer reporting agent, or credit grantor that has not been retained by TCC in order to evaluate the customer’s creditworthiness.

b.  Explain why TCC considers that it needs to exchange the customer’s credit information with others.

c.  Provide your views as to whether or not the proposed condition conflicts with the customers’ rights as provided for in TCC’s General Tariff item 119 – General Terms of Service, Confidentiality of Customer Records, specifically sub-item 119.5., and if not, why not.

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