ARCHIVED - Telecom Procedural Letter Addressed to Simon Lockie (Yak Communications (Canada) Corp.)

Ottawa, 8 July 2016

Our Reference: 8640-B2-201606245

DELIVERED BY EMAIL

Mr. Simon Lockie,
Yak Communications (Canada) Corp.
48 Yonge Street, Suite 1200
Toronto, ON  K1A 0N2
yakregulatory@globalive.com
SimonLockie@Globalive.com

RE: Bell Canada Part 1 application for forbearance from the regulation of Billing and Collection services – Yak Communications (Canada) Corp. - procedural requests

Dear Sir:

On 17 June 2016, the Commission received a letter from Yak Communications (Canada) Corp. (Yak) regarding Bell Canada’s (Bell) Part 1 application for forbearance from the regulation of Billing and Collection services (BCS) (the application).

In that letter, Yak requests that the Commission close Bell’s application.  Alternatively, should the Commission decide to proceed with the application, Yak requests that the intervention period for the application be extended to 30 days from the date the Commission issues a decision regarding its procedural request.

In support of its request to close the application, Yak argues that Bell’s application is inconsistent with the Commission’s determinations in the Wholesale Wireline Framework Decision^{Footnote 1} which maintained the regulatory status of BCS as a mandated service and indicated that the framework would remain in place for a minimum of five years. 

In this regard, Yak argues that Bell had the opportunity to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that BCS should not be treated as a mandated wholesale service in the wholesale wireline framework review proceeding, but had failed to do so. Yak also argues that an appropriate recourse for Bell would have been to file an application to review and vary any part of the Wholesale Wireline Framework Decision, but that Bell had not done so.

On 30 June 2016, the Commission received letters in support of Yak’s requests from the Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc. (CNOC) and Distributel Communications Limited (Distributel). In addition, CNOC and Distributel requested that the Commission direct Bell to serve the application on additional parties.^{Footnote 2}

Commission staff notes that Bell has filed its application in accordance with section 22 of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure (the Rules).^{Footnote 3} The application complies with the requirements set out in section 22 of the Rulesand has accordingly been posted on the Commission’s website. As a result, the merits of the application, taking into consideration the answers and interventions received by parties during the course of this proceeding, will be considered by the Commission in accordance with its normal procedures.

Commission staff notes that Bell has served a copy of its application on its current Billing and Collection wholesale customers. However, in order to provide all parties adverse in interest with specific knowledge of the application, Bell is to serve a copy of its application on all registered competitive local exchange carriers operating within the territories covered by the application by 12 July 2016.

Moreover, in order to provide all parties an adequate opportunity to comment on the application, the deadlines associated with Bell’s application are modified as follows:

• Interventions and answers may be filed by 11 August 2016, and
• Reply may be filed by 22 August 2016.

Sincerely,

Original signed by

Sheehan Carter
A/Director, Competition and Emergency Services Policy
Telecommunications Sector

c.c.:   Sylvie Labbé, CRTC, 819-953-4945, sylvie.labbe@crtc.gc.ca
Laurie Ventura, CRTC, 819-997-4589, laurie.ventura@crtc.gc.ca
Philippe Gauvin, Bell Canada, bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Michael Garbe, CNOC, regulatory@cnoc.ca
Donald Cavanagh, Distributel, regulatory@distributel.ca

Date modified:

2016-07-08