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Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2020-131-1

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Reference: 2020-131, 2020-131-2

Ottawa, 7 July 2020

Public record: 1011-NOC2020-0131

Call for comments – Review of the approach to rate setting for wholesale telecommunications services – Changes to procedure

Revised deadline for submission of interventions: 13 August 2020

Suspension of deadline for submission of replies

[Submit an intervention or view related documents]

Background

  1. In Call for comments – Review of the approach to rate setting for wholesale telecommunications services,Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2020-131, 24 April 2020, the Commission set submission deadlines of 23 July 2020 for interventions and 24 August 2020 for replies to interventions.
  2. On 25 June 2020, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (RCCI) submitted a letter to the Commission seeking extensions of those deadlines for the following reasons: competing priorities related to other regulatory proceedings currently before the Commission, workload impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic and response, and the need for employees to begin taking deferred vacations as a result of the COVID‑19 situation. RCCI requested that the deadlines be extended by two weeks.
  3. On 29 June 2020, TekSavvy Solutions Inc. (TekSavvy) submitted a letter to the Commission seeking an extension of the intervention deadline to 13 August 2020. It cited the need to retain experts, competing priorities with other regulatory proceedings, and work scheduling impacts related to COVID-19. TekSavvy, expecting that the record created by this proceeding will be voluminous and complex, further submitted that the deadline for replies to interventions should be suspended until the Commission can properly assess the content of the complete record.
  4. Cogeco Communications Inc., on behalf of its subsidiary Cogeco Connexion Inc.; Shaw Communications Inc.; and TELUS Communications Inc. supported RCCI’s request. Competitive Network Operators of Canada and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre supported TekSavvy’s proposal.

Commission’s analysis and determinations

  1. Given the circumstances of the Commission’s ongoing regulatory proceedings and the work-related impact of COVID-19, the Commission extends the submission deadline for interventions by three weeks, to 13 August 2020. Because the extent and volume of information to be submitted are not yet known and could be sizeable, the Commission suspends the deadline to file replies to interventions. It will assess deadlines and the need for further process, and communicate the results of that assessment to parties, after it receives and analyzes the interventions.
  2. The Commission considers that the establishment of a complete record for this proceeding, which will lay the groundwork for wholesale rate-setting methodology for years to come, will not be adversely affected as a result of these procedural changes.

Secretary General

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