Telecom Procedural Letter adressed to W.N. (Bill) Beckman (Saskatchewan Telecommunications)
Ottawa, 3 December 2020
Our reference: 8740-S22-202005371
BY EMAIL
W.N. (Bill) Beckman
Senior Director - Regulatory Affairs
Saskatchewan Telecommunications
2121 Saskatchewan Drive
Regina, SaskatchewanS4P 3Y2
document.control@sasktel.com
RE: Saskatchewan Telecommunications - Tariff Notice 368, 368A – General Tariff, Basic Services
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 18 December 2020.
On receipt of SaskTel’s response, interested parties may file comments within 10 days in response to new information provided in this request for information 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.
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.
Under TN 368 SaskTel proposed the following new Section 60.6:
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.
A request for information (RFI) was sent to SaskTel on 24 September 2020.
On 9 October 2020 SaskTel responded to the RFI, and in RFI response #2 noted the following:
Prioritization of an order is expected to typically increase certain of these cost elements. Service charges related to prioritizing an order would be calculated by applying an additional 67% to the total of all service charges required to provide the customer with the complete service on a non-prioritized basis. The total service charges would be the sum of all standard service charges; extended data access charges (if applicable); extra provisioning charges (if applicable); and extra construction charges (if applicable). The prioritization charge will be charged in addition to the total service charges for the order should the customer agree to the prioritization charges and date.
- In light of the fact that prioritization of an order is expected to typically increase certain cost elements, identify whether the cost elements associated with priority installation could vary by service or not (e.g. would cost elements differ depending upon the specific business or wholesale service being ordered)?
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- Provide the company’s rationale for selecting 67% as the appropriate percentage to add to cover the costs of prioritization.
- Indicate which cost elements are expected to increase as a result of a prioritization request and by what percentage?
- Explain whether SaskTel considered applying a specific service charge for priority installation as opposed to a surcharge and the reasons for not retaining such option.
- Date modified: