ARCHIVED - Letter

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Ottawa, 10 July 2014

Our Ref.: 8740-N1-201317793   

BY E-MAIL:

Mr. Dallas Yeulett
Senior Manager, Regulatory Compliance
Northwestel Inc.
P.O. Box 2727
Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 4Y4
regulatoryaffairs@nwtel.ca

Mr. Phillippe Gauvin
Senior Counsel- Regulatory Law & Policy
Bell Canada
Floor 19, 160 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2C4
bell.regulatory@bell.ca

Mr. Samer Bishay
President and CEO
Iristel Inc.
675 Cochrane Drive, 6th Floor, East Tower
Markham, Ontario, L3R 0B8
regulatory@iristel.ca

Mr. Russ Friesen
Vice President, Regulatory
MTS allstream Inc.
333 Main Street, Winnipeg, MB
R3C 3V6
iworkstation@mtsallstream.com

Re: Northwestel Tariff Notice (TN) 903 and 903A, Toll-free Origination Service – Request for disclosure of information and extension of time

On 3 July 2014, Iristel Inc. (Iristel) filed a request for disclosure of information filed in confidence by Northwestel and Bell Canada (the companies) on 27 June 2014, in response to a request for information. Subsequently, also on 3 July 2014 MTS Allstream (MTS) filed a letter supporting Iristel’s request for disclosure. Both Iristel and MTS also requested an extension of time to file comments on the companies’ responses to the information request.

By letter dated 8 July 2014, the companies filed their reply to the requests for disclosure and extension of time to file comments. Commission staff notes that 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 of Procedure). In evaluating a request, an assessment is made as to whether the information falls into a category of information that can be designated as 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 disclosure of the information for the purpose of obtaining a fuller record. The factors considered are discussed in more detail in Procedures for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure in Commission proceedings, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961, 23 December 2010, as amended by Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961-1, 26 October 2012.

Having regard to the considerations set out, the companies are requested to disclose a description of the two options for the purchase of capacity from High Level to Toronto. It is considered that the specific direct harm, if any, likely to be caused by disclosure of such a description would not outweigh the public interest in disclosure.

The companies are to file this information on the public record, serving a copy on the parties to the proceeding, by 14 July 2014.

Accordingly, the dates identified in the letter dated 17 June 2014 are extended as follows:

Where a document is to be filed or served by a specific date, the document must be actually received, nor merely sent, by that date.

Copies of the documents should also be sent to nat.natraj@crtc.ca.

Yours truly,

Original signed by:

Lyne Renaud
Senior Manager, Competitor Service and Costing
Telecommunications Directorate

cc.:  B.Natraj (Nat Natraj) CRTC, 819-953-5081, nat.natraj@crtc.gc.ca
Mohammed Omar, CRTC, 819-934-6378, mohammed.omar@crtc.gc.ca
Stephen Schmidt, TELUS Communication Company regulatory.affairs@telus.com
Allen Trafford, MTS Allstream iworkstation@mtsallstream.com
Christian S. Tacit, Tacit Law ctacitlaw@tacitlaw.com

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