ARCHIVED - Telecom Order CRTC 2015-528

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Ottawa, 27 November 2015

File number: Tariff Notice 318

Saskatchewan Telecommunications – Destandardization and withdrawal of Perimeter service

Application

1. The Commission received an application from Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel), dated 6 August 2015, in which the company proposed to withdraw, effective 31 October 2015, its Perimeter service from item 200.20 – Centrex Service II of its General Tariff – Basic Services.
2. Perimeter service provides reporting on Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) queues. ACD is a set of features used to distribute large volumes of incoming calls to available answering positions (agents). Calls are distributed in order of arrival, and the agent who has been available the longest will receive the next incoming call.
3. SaskTel indicated that the vendor contract for Perimeter service expires on 31 October 2015, and that the hardware and software required to provide the service are out of date. SaskTel submitted that keeping the service would require a significant investment, which would need to be recovered. In addition, current customers would need to upgrade their on-premises hardware. SaskTel added that a review of each customer would be required to determine the upgrade cost, and that such efforts were not warranted given the small number of customers.
4. SaskTel noted that 10 customers currently subscribe to Perimeter service, including three public safety answering points (PSAPs)^{Footnote 1} – one primary and two secondary.^{Footnote 2}SaskTel added that it was working with the PSAPs to migrate them to a new 9-1-1 call-handling service.
5. SaskTel submitted that it expected the primary PSAP to migrate to a new emergency call-handling system by the end of January 2016, but that the secondary PSAPs were still in discussion with the primary PSAP regarding migration to the same platform.
6. With regard to the other seven customers, SaskTel submitted that they were a fit for its Hosted Contact Centre Service, a Web-based contact centre service that has additional features not available through Perimeter service.
7. In response to a request for information from Commission staff, SaskTel modified its initial request, seeking approval to destandardize Perimeter service effective 31 October 2015, and conditional approval to withdraw the service by 31 January 2016 or as soon as the PSAP migration is complete.
8. The Commission received no interventions regarding SaskTel’s application. The public record of this proceeding, which closed on 21 October 2015, is available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca or by using the file number provided above.

Commission’s analysis and determinations

9. SaskTel’s application meets the requirements set out in Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-455, in which the Commission set out its procedures for dealing with applications to destandardize and/or withdraw tariffed services.^{Footnote 3} In particular, SaskTel has informed affected customers of the proposed withdrawal, including how they may file comments with the Commission.
10. However, even though SaskTel has committed to maintaining Perimeter service until the PSAP migration is complete, there is uncertainty regarding the migration of the secondary PSAPs to alternative services.
11. In light of the above, the Commission approves SaskTel’s request to destandardize Perimeter service, effective the date of this order, but denies the company’s request to withdraw the service. SaskTel may file a new withdrawal application once the PSAP migration is complete.
12. The Commission directs SaskTel to issue revised tariff pages^{Footnote 4} within 10 days of the date of this order.

Secretary General

Related documents

• Approval processes for tariff applications and intercarrier agreements, Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-455, 5 July 2010
• Mandatory customer contract renewal notification and requirements for service destandardization/withdrawal, Telecom Decision CRTC 2008-22, 6 March 2008

Date modified:

2015-11-27