Search

Telecom Order CRTC 2016-156

PDF version

Ottawa, 27 April 2016

File numbers: 8657-C12-201505505 and 4754-505

Determination of costs award with respect to the participation of the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications in the proceeding initiated by Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation 2015-239

Application

  1. By letter dated 18 December 2015, the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC) applied for costs with respect to its participation in the proceeding initiated by Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation 2015-239 (the proceeding). In that proceeding, the Commission asked for input on the service that the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services Inc. (CCTS) provides to consumers; the consumer experience with the CCTS; public awareness of the CCTS; company participation in the CCTS; and the mandate, activities, structure, and funding of the CCTS.
  2. The Commission did not receive any interventions in response to the application for costs.
  3. The FRPC submitted that it had met the criteria for an award of costs set out in section 68 of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure (the Rules of Procedure) because it represented a group or class of subscribers that had an interest in the outcome of the proceeding, it had assisted the Commission in developing a better understanding of the matters that were considered, and it had participated in a responsible way.
  4. In particular, the FRPC submitted that it represents the interests of users of telecommunications services and the public at large by advocating for a stronger communications system that serves the public interest. The FRPC also submitted that it provided evidence-based research and analysis, and its contribution provided a distinct point of view by an organization that is focused on the public interest in implementing the policy objectives set out in section 7 of the Telecommunications Act (the Act).
  5. The FRPC requested that the Commission fix its costs at $11,956.74, consisting entirely of legal fees. The FRPC noted that it was applying to the Commission for 50% of its total costs associated with the proceeding because its work was equally divided between telecommunications and broadcasting matters. The FRPC’s claim included the Ontario Harmonized Sales Tax on fees. The FRPC filed a bill of costs with its application.
  6. The FRPC submitted that the telecommunications service providers that participated in the proceeding are the appropriate parties to be required to pay any costs awarded by the Commission (the costs respondents).

Request for information

  1. In a letter dated 12 February 2016, it was noted that the proceeding related to both telecommunications and broadcasting issues, and that this is important because the Commission may only award costs related to telecommunications matters under the Act.
  2. The letter noted that the Commission cannot predetermine the amount of time spent by costs applicants in combined telecommunications and broadcasting proceedings. In particular, it was noted that the overall division of issues in the proceeding does not necessarily translate into the amount of time that any specific costs applicant spends on either telecommunications or broadcasting matters. It was noted that only the individual costs applicant knows the amount of time allocated to particular issues and whether these issues related to telecommunications or broadcasting matters.
  3. Accordingly, all costs applicants to the proceeding, including the FRPC, were requested to provide the percentage of time spent on telecommunications matters during the proceeding, including support as to how parties determined the allocation of time spent on telecommunications as opposed to broadcasting matters. 
  4. In its response, dated 22 February 2016, the FRPC submitted that its time was allocated equally between telecommunications and broadcasting matters, and provided further explanation to its initial costs application as to how it arrived at this equal division. The FRPC reviewed the work that it had done for the proceeding and considered that the work that it had engaged in at all stages of the proceeding consistently took into account telecommunications and broadcasting matters in an equal manner.
  5. No answers with respect to the FRPC’s response to the request for information were received from other parties.

Commission’s analysis and determinations

  1. The criteria for an award of costs are set out in section 68 of the Rules of Procedure, which reads as follows:

    68. The Commission must determine whether to award final costs and the maximum percentage of costs that is to be awarded on the basis of the following criteria:
    (a) whether the applicant had, or was the representative of a group or a class of subscribers that had, an interest in the outcome of the proceeding;
    (b) the extent to which the applicant assisted the Commission in developing a better understanding of the matters that were considered; and
    (c) whether the applicant participated in the proceeding in a responsible way.

  2. The FRPC has satisfied these criteria through its participation in the proceeding. The FRPC provided well-researched and detailed submissions that represented users of telecommunications services and the public interest at large. In particular, the FRPC’s submissions, especially regarding a well-designed data collection system to evaluate the CCTS’s performance, greater transparency, and enhanced public awareness of the CCTS, assisted the Commission in developing a better understanding of the matters that were considered.
  3. The rates claimed in respect of legal fees are in accordance with the rates established in the Commission’s Guidelines for the Assessment of Costs, as set out in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2010-963.
  4. The proceeding related to both telecommunications and broadcasting issues. As noted above, the Commission may only award costs related to telecommunications matters under the Act. However, parties are free to apply to the Broadcasting Participation Fund for the portion of time that they dedicated to broadcasting matters in the proceeding.
  5. Based on the record of the proceeding, the Commission finds that the 50% allocation of time to telecommunications matters by the FRPC is acceptable, and that the total amount claimed by the FRPC of $11,956.74, which is 50% of the total costs for the FRPC associated with its participation in the proceeding, was necessarily and reasonably incurred and should be allowed.
  6. This is an appropriate case in which to fix the costs and dispense with taxation, in accordance with the streamlined procedure set out in Telecom Public Notice 2002-5.
  7. The Commission has generally determined that the appropriate costs respondents to an award of costs are the parties that have a significant interest in the outcome of the proceeding in question and have participated actively in that proceeding. The Commission considers that the following parties had a significant interest in the outcome of the proceeding and participated actively in the proceeding: Bell Canada; Bragg Communications Incorporated, operating as Eastlink; the Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc.; Cogeco Cable Inc.; MTS Inc. and Allstream Inc.; Quebecor Media Inc., on behalf of Videotron G.P.; Rogers Communications Partnership (RCP); Saskatchewan Telecommunications; Shaw Communications Inc.; TBayTel; and TELUS Communications Company (TCC).
  8. The Commission considers that, consistent with its practice, it is appropriate to allocate the responsibility for payment of costs among costs respondents based on their telecommunications operating revenues (TORs)Footnote 1 as an indicator of the relative size and interest of the parties involved in the proceeding.
  9. However, as set out in paragraph 21 of Telecom Order 2015-160, the Commission considers $1,000 to be the minimum amount that a costs respondent should be required to pay due to the administrative burden that small costs awards impose on both the applicant and costs respondents.
  10. Accordingly, the Commission finds that the responsibility for payment of costs should be allocated as follows:
    Company Percentage Amount
    TCC 36.4% $4,352.25
    RCP 33.1% $3,957.68
    Bell Canada 30.5% $3,646.81

Directions regarding costs

  1. The Commission approves the application by the FRPC for costs with respect to its participation in the proceeding.
  2. Pursuant to subsection 56(1) of the Act, the Commission fixes the costs to be paid to the FRPC at $11,956.74.
  3. The Commission directs that the award of costs to the FRPC be paid forthwith by TCC, RCP, and Bell Canada according to the proportions set out in paragraph 21 above.

Secretary General

Related documents

Footnotes

Footnote 1

TORs consist of Canadian telecommunications revenues from local and access, long distance, data, private line, Internet, and wireless services. In this order, the Commission has used the TORs of the costs respondents based on their most recent audited financial statements.

Return to footnote 1

Date modified: