ARCHIVED - Letter
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Ottawa, 15 July 2013
Our reference: 8740-S22-201306225
BY EMAIL
Mr. William Sandiford
Chair of the Board and President
CNOC
107-85 Curlew Drive
Toronto, Ontario M3A 2P8
regulatory@cnoc.ca
Mr. Robert Hersche
Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs
Saskatchewan Telecommunications
2121 Saskatchewan Drive
Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 3Y2
document.control@sasktel.com
Re: Saskatchewan Telecommunications Tariff Notice 280 - Ethernet Access Service
Dear Sirs:
On 18 April 2013, Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel, or the company) submitted Tariff Notice 280 (TN 280), in which it proposed changes to its Ethernet Access Service. Specifically, SaskTel proposed to introduce new rates for 100 Mbps Ethernet Access Service in rate bands E and G, and 1000 Mbps Ethernet Access Service in rate bands C, E and G.
On 2 May 2013, the Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc. (CNOC) requested that the Commission require SaskTel to re-file, on the public record, all of the materials filed in support of TN 280 with the degree of disclosure required by Confidentiality of information used to
establish wholesale service rates, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2012-592, 26 October 2013 (Telecom Regulatory Policy 2012-592).
In reply to CNOC’s request, SaskTel noted that the Commission’s determinations in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2012-592 apply to wholesale services. SaskTel then stated that its Ethernet Access Service is a retail tariff offering and, as such, it had filed TN 280 under the disclosure rules related to retail services.
On 13 June 2013, and in response to a Commission staff request for information, SaskTel provided its analysis of what costing elements should be maintained as confidential for TN 280. SaskTel did, however, disclose additional information, including the per unit revenues, the productivity improvement factor, the capital increase factor, and the expense increase factor.
Disclosure
Requests for disclosure of information designated as confidential are addressed in light of sections 38 and 39 of the Telecommunications Act (the Act) and sections 30 and following of the CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure (the Rules). In evaluating a request, an assessment is made as to whether the information falls into a category of information that can be designated confidential pursuant to section 39 of the Act. An assessment is then made as to whether there is any specific direct harm likely to result from the disclosure of the information in question and whether any such harm outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In making this evaluation, a number of factors are taken into consideration, including the degree of competition and the importance of the information for the purpose of obtaining a fuller record. The factors considered are discussed in more detail in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961.
In the particular circumstances of this case, Commission staff considered the extent to which similar information was disclosed on the public record of other tariff applications, and the extent to which release of the information could disclose competitively sensitive information related to revenues and market size. Commission staff notes the following:
- The service at issue is a retail service, not a wholesale service;
- With the additional information disclosed by SaskTel in its 13 June 2013 response, the level of disclosure provided on the public record for this proceeding is consistent with guidelines set out in Procedures for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure in Commission proceedings, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961, 23 December 2010. ;
- The (1) nature of the information for which SaskTel maintains a claim of confidentiality, and (2) potential harm to SaskTel if additional competitively sensitive information were to be publically disclosed, thereby providing competitors with information that they could use to develop business strategies, structure their own service offerings and make investment decision, were addressed; and
- The matter of public interest in ordering disclosure was addressed, specifically whether release of further information over which SaskTel has made claims of confidentiality would allow for the creation of a substantively more fulsome record upon which the Commission will be asked to discharge its statutory mandate.
Having regard to all the considerations set out above, no further disclosure is required.
Further Comments / Replies
Parties may submit comments on SaskTel’s tariff application within 10 calendar days of the date of this letter, after which SaskTel has 5 calendar days to reply.
A copy of this letter and all related correspondence will be added to the public record of this application.
Yours sincerely,
Original signed by
Michel Murray
Director, Regulatory Implementation
Telecommunications
c.c.: Imen Arfaoui, CRTC, 819-997-4663, imen.arfaoui@crtc.gc.ca
- Date modified: