Telecom Commission Letter addressed to the Distribution List
Ottawa, 17 February 2020
Our reference: 8663-T66-201805722, 8663-J64-201806019
BY EMAIL
Distribution List
RE: Iris Technologies Inc. (Iristel) and TELUS Communications Inc. (TCI) – Applications for relief regarding the termination of traffic to certain 867 numbering plan area telephone numbers
Dear Sirs,
On 18 December 2019, Commission staff requested Iristel, Free Conference Call Global (FCCG), ## [Iristel Customer #1], ## [Iristel Customer #3], and ## [Iristel Customer #5] to, by no later than 30 December 2019, either:
- disclose certain information, set out in the staff letter, on the public record of the above-noted proceeding; or
- file with the Commission their arguments on the reasons why the Commission should not disclose the information itself on the public record in the absence of a new or revised abridged version being filed pursuant to this letter.
On 20 December 2019, Iristel submitted that for it to confirm or deny on the public record, absent a Commission directive, whether a particular entity is a customer of Iristel would violate longstanding Commission rules with respect to the confidentiality of customer information. Iristel submitted that for this reason alone, it is unable to comply with the request of Commission staff, and that this is a matter solely for a Commission ruling. Iristel also reiterated the arguments for confidentiality that it made in its 1 August 2019 submission to the Commission in response to a request for disclosure by TCI. Moreover, Iristel submitted that there is no connection between its interrogatory response filed in confidence and the existence of a revenue-sharing agreement with FCCG.
No response to the 18 December 2019 staff letter has been received from FCCG, ## [Iristel Customer #1], or ## [Iristel Customer #3].
Commission determinations
As set out in paragraph 39(4)(a) of the Telecommunications Act (the Act), if information that has been designated as confidential is submitted in the course of proceedings, the Commission may disclose or require its disclosure if it determines, after considering any representations from interested persons, that the disclosure is in the public interest.
Iristel
With respect to the confidentiality of Iristel’s response to interrogatory IRISTEL(CRTC)11JUN19-9a), it is necessary in the interest of a transparent, informed proceeding that any agreements that are central to the issue brought forward by TCI (i.e., that Iristel appears to be engaged in traffic stimulation) be disclosed on the public record.
Additionally, the Commission considers that the specific direct harm that could be incurred by either Iristel or FCCG through disclosure would not outweigh the benefit to the public interest. No financial or qualitative details regarding the nature of any arrangement between Iristel and FCCG was requested, or disclosed by Iristel, in the interrogatory. Furthermore, Iristel had previously disclosed publicly, in a 2018 letter sent as a follow-up to Decision 2017-456, similar information regarding its agreement at that time with FCCG.
Therefore, the Commission considers that disclosure of Iristel’s response to IRISTEL(CRTC)11JUN19-9a) on the public record would not: (i) result in material financial loss or gain to Iristel or to FCCG; and/or (ii) prejudice the competitive position of Iristel or of FCCG.
Accordingly, the Commission directs Iristel to disclose its response to IRISTEL(CRTC)11JUN19-9a) on the public record, by filing with the Commission an abridged version of its response by no later than 21 February 2020. In order to ensure the efficient progress of this file, if Iristel fails to disclose the information on the public record by 21 February 2020, the Commission will disclose Iristel’s response on the public record of the proceeding itself. Parties may comment on the disclosed information within five business days after Iristel’s response is disclosed on the public record.
FCCG, ## [Iristel Customer #1] and ## [Iristel Customer #3]
The Commission considers, for the reasons described below, that all of the information contained in FCCG’s, ## [Iristel Customer #1’s], and ## [Iristel Customer #3’s] responses to the interrogatories posed to them should be disclosed on the public record of the proceeding, with the exception of the following:
- all references to ## [Iristel Customer #1’s] and ## [Iristel Customer #3’s] names;
- all references to FCCG contained in responses to interrogatories other than FCCG(CRTC)11JUN19-7 and FCCG(CRTC)11JUN19-8);
- all references to FCCG’s customer named ##;
- all references to ## [Iristel Customer #3’s] customer named ##; and
- ## [Iristel Customer #3’s] network diagram submitted in response to interrogatory CUSTOMERS(CRTC)11JUN19-4.
First, the Commission considers that the information contained within the responses provided for FCCG, ## [Iristel Customer #1], and ## [Iristel Customer #3] to all interrogatories from the 11 June 2019 staff letter is of comparable commercial sensitivity to the information found within the responses to the interrogatories that were disclosed on the public record by ## [Iristel Customer #2] and ## [Iristel Customer #5]. In contrast, the Commission considers that disclosure of the exceptions noted above would result in specific direct harm to Iristel, FCCG, ## [Iristel Customer #1], and ## [Iristel Customer #3] that would not be outweighed by the public interest, since the information relates to commercial relationships and sensitive network diagrams.
Second, the Commission considers that any specific direct harm that could be incurred by FCCG, ## [Iristel Customer #1], and ## [Iristel Customer #3] as a result of disclosure of the remaining interrogatory response information as described above on the public record would not outweigh the benefit to the public interest. The Commission considers that disclosure of this information would benefit the public interest as it would enable third parties to better understand the uses of 867 NPA numbers in order to better evaluate whether traffic stimulation activities are occurring. The Commission also considers that disclosure of this information on the public record would not: (i) result in material financial loss or gain to FCCG, ## [Iristel Customer #1], or ## [Iristel Customer #3]; and/or (ii) prejudice the competitive position of FCCG, ## [Iristel Customer #1], or ## [Iristel Customer #3] since the information to be disclosed is either already public or does not disclose commercially sensitive information.
In light of all the above, the Commission requests FCCG, ## [Iristel Customer #1] and ## [Iristel Customer #3] to disclose on the public record of the proceeding the responses to all of the interrogatories posed to them in the 11 June 2019 staff letter (subject to the exceptions detailed above) by 21 February 2020. Furthermore, the Commission informs FCCG, ## [Iristel Customer #1] and ## [Iristel Customer #3] that if they do not disclose the information in question by
21 February 2020, the Commission will disclose the information on the public record of the proceeding. Parties may comment on the disclosed information within five business days after the information is disclosed on the public record.
A copy of this letter, as well as abridged versions of all related correspondence, will be publicly accessible through the Commission’s website.
Yours sincerely,
Original signed by
Claude Doucet
Secretary General
c.c.: Parties to the proceeding
Michel Murray, CRTC, michel.murray@crtc.gc.ca
- Date modified: