ARCHIVED -  Letter

Ottawa, 1 November 2013

BY EMAIL

TO: Distribution list

Re: Telecom Notice of Consultation 2013-337 - Fact-finding process on the role of payphones in the Canadian communications system – Requests for disclosure

This letter addresses requests for disclosure of information for which a claim of confidentiality has been made in the context of the process relating to Telecom Notice of Consultation 2003-337.

On 4 October 2013, la Coalition pour le service 9-1-1 au Québec filed a request for disclosure relating to information filed as part of responses to interrogatories issued by the Commission on 16 July 2013. On 11 October 2013, DiversityCanada Foundation (DCF) and Public Interest .Advocacy Centre, Consumers’Association of Canada and the Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of British Columbia (collectively PIAC/CAC/COSCO) also filed requests for disclosure relating to these same interrogatories.

On 21 October 2013, Bell Aliant on behalf of itself and DMTS, KMTS, NorthernTel and Télébec, and Bell Canada on behalf of itself and Northwestel (NWTel) (collectively, the Companies), TELUS, Tbaytel, Sasktel, MTS Allstream, Canadian Independent Telephone Company –Joint Task Force on behalf of the SILECs (CITC), and Bragg Communications on behalf of Amtelcom Limited Partnership and People’s Tel Limited Partnership (collectively, Eastlink) filed with the Commission their responses to the above requests from DCF and PIAC/CAC/COSCO.

Disclosure

Requests for disclosure of information for which confidentiality has been claimed are addressed in light of sections 38 and 39 of the Telecommunications Act and section 19 of the CRTC Telecommunications Rules of Procedure (the Rules). In evaluating a request, an assessment is made as to whether there is any specific direct harm likely to result from the disclosure of the information in question. Further, in order to justify a claim of confidence, any such harm must be sufficient as to outweigh the public interest in disclosure. In making this evaluation, a number of factors are taken into consideration, including the following:

The degree of competition that exists in a particular market or that is expected to occur is an important consideration in assessing requests for disclosure. All things being equal, the greater the degree of actual or expected competition, the greater the specific harm that could be expected to result from disclosure;

Another factor in assessing the extent of harm is the expected usefulness of the information at issue to parties in furthering their competitive position. In this regard, an important consideration is the degree to which the information at issue is disaggregated. Generally speaking, the more aggregated the information, the less likelihood that harm will flow from its disclosure;

The expectation that specific direct harm might result from disclosure is not, by itself, sufficient to justify maintaining a claim of confidentiality. In certain circumstances, substantial harm from disclosure may still be outweighed by the public interest in disclosure; and

It should be noted that the treatment of confidentiality requests should not be taken as an indication of the manner in which such matters would be dealt with in the future in different circumstances.

Having regard to all of the considerations set out above, the information filed under a claim of confidentiality in response to the requests for information is to be placed on the public record of this proceeding to the extent outlined below and set out in the Attachments to this letter. In each case where full or partial disclosure is to occur, it is considered that the specific direct harm, if any, likely to be caused by disclosure would not outweigh the public interest in disclosure.
Accordingly, all parties listed in Appendix A of Telecom Notice of Consultation 2013-337 are to file for the public record the information described in Attachment 1.
Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Parternship, Bell Canada, MTS Inc., Northwestel Inc., Saskatchewan Telecommunications, Télébec, Limited Partnership, and TELUS Communications Company are to file for the public record the information described in Attachment 2.
The information required to be filed for the public record pursuant to this letter is to be filed with the Commission by 4 November 2013. These responses are to be received, and not merely sent, by this date.

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by

Nanao Kachi
Director, Social and Consumer Policy

cc : Adam Mills, CRTC, adam.mills@crtc.gc.ca;
Soniya Mukhedkar, CRTC, soniya.mukhedkar@crtc.gc.ca

Att.

Attachment 1

Directions to parties listed in Appendix A of Telecom Notice of Consultation 2013-337 for disclosure of information filed in confidence

101. Refer to the company’s interrogatory response to __(CRTC)16Jul13-101 TNC 2013-337, where the company filed data subject to a claim of confidentiality related to the total number of payphone removals and installations, broken down by high-cost and non-high cost serving areas, for each of the years 2008-2016. Disclose the data provided by the company, for each of the years 2008-2016, broken down by high-cost and non-high cost serving areas, in respect of which the company has claimed confidentiality. Disclose this information on a total company basis only.

103. Refer to the company’s interrogatory response to __(CRTC)16Jul13-103 TNC 2013-337, including the Attachment, where the company filed data subject to a claim of confidentiality related to the number of ‘Pay Telephone Sets’ as well as the number of ‘Pay Telephone Calls’. Disclose the data provided in the response and / or attachment, on a total company basis only, for each of the years 2008-2016, for each of the following, for which the company has claimed confidentiality:

(i) Total number of year-end pay telephones for total company
(ii) Number of year-end TTYs for total company
(iii) Total calls for each sub-call types (local cash calls, local non-cash calls, 9-1-1 etc.) identified therein, as well as the total pay telephone calls.

104. Refer to the company’s interrogatory response to __(CRTC)16Jul13-104 TNC 2013-337, where the company filed data subject to a claim of confidentiality related to the number of unique locations at which the company’s payphones were located at year-end for each of the years 2008 to 2012. Disclose the number of locations for each of the years, for which the company has claimed confidentiality. Disclose this information on a total company basis only.

Attachment 2
Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Partnership, Bell Canada, MTS Inc., Northwestel Inc., Saskatchewan Telecommunications, Télébec, Limited Partnership, and TELUS Communications Company (collectively, the large ILECs) .

201. Refer to Table 1 of the company’s interrogatory response to __(CRTC)16Jul13-201 TNC 2013-337 (in the case of MTS Allstream refer to Table 4.0-1 of __(CRTC)16Jul13-201 TNC 2013-337 Revised), where the company filed data subject to a claim of confidence related to total present worth of revenues, costs and mark-up for the Public Pay Telephone Service. Disclose the bottom row ‘Total’ only, for each of the columns identified as ‘Revenues’, ‘Total Costs’, ‘Difference’ and ‘% Mark-up’ in the Table, for which the company has claimed confidentiality. Disclose this information on a total company basis only.

Distribution list:

Amtelecom Limited Partnership Stacey.Langley@corp.eastlink.ca
Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Partnership regulatory@bell.aliant.ca;
Bell Canada bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Brooke Telecom Co-operative Ltd. jim@brooketel.ca
Bruce Telecom regulatory@brucetelecom.com
CityWest Telephone Corporation heather.bishop@cwct.ca
Cochrane Telecom Services admin@cochranetel.ca;
CoopTel pallard@cooptel.qc.ca
Dryden Municipal Telephone System Stace.gander@bell.ca
Execulink Telecom Inc. jonathan.scott@execulink.com
Gosfield North Communications Co-operative Limited gosfield@gosfieldtel.com
Hay Communications Co-operative Limited a.schneider@hay.net
Huron Telecommunications Co-operative Limited- grubb@hurontel.on.ca
Independent Telecommunications Providers Association jonathan.holmes@itpa.ca
KMTS mjboivin@telebec.com
La Cie de Téléphone de Courcelles Inc. jpatry@telcourcelles.qc.ca
La Compagnie de Téléphone de Lambton Inc. infotel@sogetel.net
La Compagnie de Téléphone de St-Victor telvic@telvic.net
La Compagnie de Téléphone Upton Inc. j-fmathieu@telupton.qc.ca
Lansdowne Rural Telephone Co. Ltd. wagrier@1000island.net
Le Téléphone de St-Éphrem inc. telstep@telstep.net
Mornington Communications Co-operative Limited rbanks@mornington.ca
MTS Inc. iworkstation@mtsallstream.com
Nexicom Telecommunications Inc. jdowns@nexicomgroup.net
Nexicom Telephones Inc. pdowns@nexicom.net, pdowns@nexicomgroup.net
North Frontenac Telephone Corporation Ltd. Fmantell6229@rogers.com
NorthernTel, Limited Partnership mjboivin@telebec.com
Northwestel Inc. regulatoryaffairs@nwtel.ca
NRTC Communications moverton@nrtco.net
Ontera tracy.cant@ontera.ca
People’s Tel Limited Partnership Stacey.Langley@corp.eastlink.ca
Quadro Communications Co-operative Inc. barry.stone@quadro.net
Roxborough Telephone Company Limited roxboro@ontarioeast.net
Saskatchewan Telecommunications document.control@sasktel.com
Sogetel inc. sophie.houde@sogetel.com
TBayTel rob.olenick@tbaytel.com
Télébec, Limited Partnership mjboivin@telebec.com
Téléphone Guèvremont inc. gcordeau@maskatel.qc.ca
Téléphone Milot inc. paul.frappier@telmilot.com
TELUS Communications Company regulatory.affairs@telus.com
Tuckersmith Communications Co-operative Limited regulatory@tcc.on.ca
Wightman Telecom Ltd. kgugan@wightman.ca
WTC Communications steve@wtccommunications.ca

Date modified:

2013-11-01