ARCHIVED - Telecom Order CRTC 2014-593

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Ottawa, 14 November 2014

File number: Tariff Notice 67

Cochrane Telecom Services - Increases to local residential service rates

1. The Commission received an application from Cochrane Telecom Services (Cochrane), dated 3 September 2014,^{Footnote 1} in which the company notified the Commission of the need to modify item 4 of its General Tariff - Rate Schedules for Primary Exchange (Local) Service. The company submitted that changes to item 4 were required to reflect determinations made by the Commission in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-291.
2. Specifically, the company filed monthly rates for residential individual line, rural line, and new amalgamation services (the latter service includes Touch Tone), to reflect determinations made by the Commission in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-291. In that decision, the Commission determined that the small incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) would be allowed to increase their monthly residential rates for an individual line (including Touch Tone) in three equal increments, to a maximum of $30 over a three-year period.
3. On 23 July 2012, Cochrane submitted the first of three equal increases to its local residential rates in Tariff Notice 64 in order to reflect the Commission’s determinations set out in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-291. These rates took effect on 1 August 2012.
4. Cochrane implemented two further local rate increases on 1 March 2013 and 1 January 2014. The latter increase of $1.84 raised the company’s individual line rate (including Touch Tone) to $30 as contemplated in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-291.
5. In its 3 September 2014 application, Cochrane submitted that, due to an administrative oversight, it had not filed tariff notices seeking approval of the second and third rate increases, referenced in paragraph 4 above. As such, the company requested ratification, pursuant to subsection 25(4) of the Telecommunications Act (the Act), of the two rate increases it implemented on 1 March 2013 and 1 January 2014.
6. On 18 September 2014, the Commission approved Cochrane’s application on an interim basis in Telecom Order 2014-485, noting that it would address the company’s request for ratification in the final order.
7. The Commission received no interventions with respect to this application. The public record of this proceeding, which closed on 29 September 2014, is available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca or by using the file number provided above.
8. The Commission considers that the rates filed by Cochrane in its application comply with the determinations set out in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-291 regarding increases to the small ILECs’ residential individual line service rates.
9. With respect to Cochrane’s ratification request, the Commission notes that, pursuant to subsection 25(4) of the Act, it may ratify the charging of a rate by a Canadian carrier otherwise than in accordance with a tariff approved by the Commission if it is satisfied that the rate was charged because of an error or other circumstance that warrants the ratification.
10. The Commission is satisfied that Cochrane charged the rates of $28.16 and $30.00 as of 1 March 2013 and 1 January 2014, respectively, for the residential individual line service (including Touch Tone) referenced above without an approved tariff due to an administrative error. The Commission therefore considers that the company’s request for ratification of these rates, as well as the rates for Cochrane’s residential individual line and rural services, is reasonable.
11. Accordingly, the Commission approves on a final basis Cochrane’s application. The Commission also ratifies the rates charged by Cochrane for the local residential services referenced above for the periods 1 March to 31 December 2013 and
    1 January to 17 September 2014, and approves the rates for local residential services, as filed in item 4 of the company’s General Tariff, effective 18 September 2014. Cochrane is to issue revised tariff pages^{Footnote 2}within 10 days of the date of this order.

Secretary General

Related documents

• Telecom Order CRTC 2014-485, 18 September 2014
• Obligation to serve and other matters, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2011-291, 3 May 2011, as amended by Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2011-291-1, 12 May 2011

Date modified:

2014-11-14