ARCHIVED - Telecom Order CRTC 2012-433
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Ottawa, 8 August 2012
Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Partnership and Bell Canada – Destandardization of Lite, Lite Plus, and Fibre to the Node 16 Gateway Access Service speeds
File numbers: Bell Aliant Tariff Notice 410 and Bell Canada Tariff Notice 7355
1. The Commission received a joint application by Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Partnership and Bell Canada (collectively, the Bell companies), dated 7 May 2012, in which the Bell companies proposed revisions to their General Tariff item 5410 - Gateway Access Service and item 5440 - Gateway Access Service Fibre to the Node. Specifically, the Bell companies requested the destandardization of their wholesale Lite, Lite Plus, and Fibre to the Node (FTTN) 16 Gateway Access Service speeds, effective 9 August 2012.1
2. The Bell companies submitted that they no longer offer the above-mentioned service speeds to new retail end-users due to a recent restructuring of their Internet service offerings. The Bell companies also submitted that, as a result, they are no longer obligated to offer those service speeds to new end-users of their wholesale customers according to the Commission’s determinations in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2010-632. The Bell companies proposed to grandfather the service speeds for existing end-users of their wholesale customers.
3. The Commission received comments regarding the Bell companies’ application from the Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc. (CNOC), MTS Inc. and Allstream Inc. (collectively, MTS Allstream), and Vaxination Informatique. These comments did not oppose the destandardization proposal as such.2 The public record of this proceeding, which closed on 18 June 2012, is available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca under “Public Proceedings” or by using the file numbers provided above.
4. The Commission notes that the Bell companies have notified their wholesale customers of their proposal to destandardize their Lite, Lite Plus, and FTTN 16 service speeds. The Commission considers that the Bell companies have complied with the requirements set out in Telecom Decision 2008-22, in which the Commission revised its procedures for dealing with applications to destandardize and/or withdraw tariffed services.
5. The Commission notes that in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2010-632, it determined that incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) are required to provide wholesale high-speed access services to competitors at speeds that match all speed options the ILECs offer to their own retail Internet service customers. The Commission considers that approval of the Bell companies’ proposal does not raise any compliance issues with respect to the above-noted speed matching requirements.
6. In light of the above, the Commission considers that the Bell companies’ proposal to destandardize their wholesale Lite, Lite Plus, and FTTN 16 service speeds is acceptable. Accordingly, the Commission approves the Bell companies’ application, effective 9 August 2012.
Secretary General
Related documents
- Billing practices for wholesale residential high-speed access services, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2011-703, 15 November 2011, modified by Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2011-703-1, 22 December 2011
- Wholesale high-speed access services proceeding, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-632, 30 August 2010
- Mandatory customer contract renewal notification and requirements for service destandardization/withdrawal, Telecom Decision CRTC 2008-22, 6 March 2008
Footnotes:
[1] The Lite service speed is 640 kilobits per second, the Lite Plus service speed is 2 megabits per second (Mbps), and the FTTN 16 service speed is 16 Mbps.
[2] The Bell companies’ destandardization notice to customers mentioned a charge for an optional increase to the upload speed on certain high-speed access service speeds, which MTS Allstream opposed. The Commission notes that this charge is being dealt with in a separate proceeding (CNOC’s application to review and vary Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-703, file number 8662-C182-201202324).
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