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Telecom Commission Letter addressed to W.N. (Bill) Beckman (Saskatchewan Telecommunications)

Ottawa, 24 September 2020

Our reference:  8740-S22-202005371

BY EMAIL

W.N. (Bill) Beckman
Senior Director - Regulatory Affairs
Saskatchewan Telecommunications
2121 Saskatchewan Drive
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4P 3Y2
document.control@sasktel.com

RE:  Saskatchewan Telecommunications - Tariff Notice 368 – General Tariff, Basic Services

Dear Mr. Beckman:

On 25 August 2020, the Commission received an application from Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel) under Tariff Notice 368. The company is proposing to revise the company’s General Tariff – Basic Services (CRTC 21411) Item 50, General Terms of Service in order to introduce a new term within the “Charges, Minimum Contract Period, and Cancellation before Service Begins” section of this tariff item.

Paragraph 28(1) (a) of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure provides that the Commission may require parties to file information or documents where needed.

SaskTel is requested to provide comprehensive answers, including rationale and any supporting information, to the attached questions by 9 October 2020.

On receipt of SaskTel’s response, interested parties may file comments within 10 days and SaskTel may file reply comments within 5 calendar days thereafter.

As set out in section 39 of the Telecommunications Act and in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961, Procedures for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure in Commission proceedings, persons may designate certain information as confidential.

A person designating information as confidential must provide a detailed explanation on why the relevant information qualifies for designation as confidential and why its disclosure would not be in the public interest, including why the specific direct harm that would be likely to result from the disclosure would outweigh the public interest in disclosure. Furthermore, a person designating information as confidential must either file an abridged version of the document omitting only the information designated as confidential or provide reasons why an abridged version cannot be filed.

Where a document is to be filed or served by a specific date, the document must be actually received, not merely sent, by that date.

The Commission requires the response or other documents to be submitted electronically by using the secured service “My CRTC Account” (Partner Log In or GCKey) and filling the “Telecom Cover page” located on this web page. 

A copy of this letter and all subsequent replies will be added to the public record of this proceeding.

Sincerely,

Original signed by

Michel Murray
Director, Dispute Resolution & Regulatory Implementation
Telecommunications Sector

c.c: Joanne Baldassi, CRTC, 819-997-3498, joanne.baldassi@crtc.gc.ca

Attach. (1)

Requests for Information

SaskTel is proposing a revision to its General Tariff in order to add a new Term, 60.6, within the “Charges, Minimum Contract Period, and Cancellation Before Service Begins” section of the General Terms of Service regarding priority installation.

Section 60.6 states:

If the installation dates specified by SaskTel are undesirable to the customer, the customer may request a prioritization of the installation date.  The customer will be responsible for additional costs incurred due to prioritization should it be possible to prioritize the installation date to the mutual agreement of SaskTel and the customer.  SaskTel has no obligation to prioritize the installation.

SaskTel indicated that there are instances where the company’s Business or Wholesale customers would like their order to be processed and installed sooner than the date originally scheduled for installation.  If SaskTel can arrange to accommodate an installation date in a shorter timeframe to the mutual satisfaction of SaskTel and the customer, SaskTel would like to charge a priority charge to recover the costs SaskTel incurred in prioritizing the customer’s order.

  1. Confirm that the provision under Section 60.6 would apply to all Business and Wholesale services. If there are any services for which this provision would not apply, identify these services and provide rationale regarding why SaskTel wishes to exempt these services from requesting priority installation. 
  2. Section 60.5 of SaskTel’s General Terms of Service identifies the cost elements associated with installation.
    1. Identify if these cost elements would apply under section 60.6 for priority installation as well. If not, explain what additional costs elements would be incurred as a result of a priority installation charge in addition to those identified in section 60.5.
    2. Explain on what basis the priority charge would be calculated to recover any additional costs for prioritizing the customer (e.g. will it be straight cost, cost plus a percentage markup, or a straight surcharge). How will SaskTel ensure the priority charge will be applied on an unjust and non-discriminatory basis?
  3. SaskTel indicates that it has no obligation to prioritize a customer’s installation. Identify how SaskTel will ensure that customers will be treated equally regarding priority installation.
  4. Should it be possible to prioritize the installation to the mutual agreement of SaskTel and the customer, identify
    1. what would happen in the event SaskTel and the customer cannot mutually agree to costs and timing of the priority installation; and
    2. if there is a formal dispute mechanism that would be employed in order to arrive at a mutual agreement.
  5. Identify whether the prioritization of one or more customers will cause a delay for other customers who have requested service installation, including whether or not these customers could expect a delay in installation.
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