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Telecom Order CRTC 2021-249

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Reference: 2021-230

Ottawa, 2 August 2021

Public record:Tariff Notice 371

Saskatchewan Telecommunications – Revisions to General Tariff – Basic Services

Application

  1. The Commission received an application from Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel), Tariff Notice (TN) 371, dated 15 June 2021, in which the company proposed revisions to item 110.48, Voice Grade Facilities-Local Channels-Destandardized of its General Tariff – Basic Services.
  2. SaskTel submitted that, due to a version control error, an earlier application, TN 370, had included proposed tariff pages for the above tariff item that were incorrect. Therefore, in TN 371, SaskTel filed the rates that it had originally intended to file for that item. The company requested that the rate change be applied retroactively to 31 March 2021, which had been the intended effective date for TN 370.
  3. The Commission received no comments regarding SaskTel’s application.
  4. The Commission approved the application on an interim basis in Telecom Order CRTC 2021-230, effective 15 July 2021. 

Commission’s analysis and determinations

  1. Pursuant to subsection 25(4) of the Telecommunications Act (the Act), the Commission may ratify the charging of a rate by a Canadian carrier otherwise than in accordance with a tariff approved by the Commission if the Commission is satisfied that the rate was charged because of an error or other circumstance that warrants the ratification.
  2. The Commission is satisfied that, while SaskTel charged $25.98, $32.27 and $34.06 monthly for each leg in the main channel as it had intended, the approved tariff instead indicated $21.48, $26.68 and $28.16 due to the version control error. The Commission notes that before charging those rates to customers, SaskTel informed them of the increase by letter, more than a month in advance. Also, the Commission notes that had the correct tariff pages been included in TN 370, the proposed rate revisions would have qualified as a Group A application, which would not have required Commission approval.
  3. The Commission therefore considers that SaskTel’s request for rate ratification is reasonable.
  4. In light of the above, the Commission approves on a final basis SaskTel’s application, and ratifies the charging of the rates in question, pursuant to subsection 25(4) of the Act, from 31 March 2021 to 15 July 2021, the date of the interim approval order.

Policy Directions

  1. In accordance with subparagraph 1(b)(i) of the 2006 Policy Direction,Footnote 1 the Commission considers that the approval of this application will advance the policy objective set out in paragraph 7(f) of the Act.Footnote 2
  2. In accordance with the 2019 Policy Direction,Footnote 3 the Commission considers that this order, which is based on a complete record, can promote competition, affordability, consumer interests, and innovation. Specifically, the final approval of this application will promote consumer interests, because it will ensure the accuracy of tariff pages, which is important for customers, and ensure that an administrative error does not negatively impact the relationship between customers and their telecommunications service provider.

Secretary General

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