Telecom Order CRTC 2023-409

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Ottawa, 8 December 2023

Public record: Tariff Notice 7662

Bell Canada – Tariff Notice 7662 – Local network interconnection and component bundling

Summary

The Commission approves Bell Canada’s application, in which it proposes to combine the local interconnection regions (LIRs) of Kuujjuaq, Quebec and Trois-Rivières, Quebec into a single LIR at Trois-Rivières, effective 8 December 2023.

Application

1. The Commission received an application from Bell Canada, Tariff Notice (TN) 7662,  in which the company proposed to combine two local interconnection regions (LIRs) in Quebec, Trois-Rivières and Kuujjuaq, to form a larger LIR at Trois-Rivières.
2. Bell Canada submitted that the proposed change would enable local exchange carriers (LECs) with a point of interconnection (POI) in the Trois-Rivières LIR to gain access without additional interconnections to the fourteen communities that are currently part of the Kuujjuaq LIR.
3. Bell Canada submitted that its proposal stems from the fact that, currently, interconnection for calls between the Kuujjuaq LIR and the communities beyond requires multiple satellite hops, which increases costs and raises the risk of reduced voice service quality. According to Bell Canada, this makes interconnection with competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) within the Kuujjuaq LIR inefficient.
4. Bell Canada submitted that, under its proposal, the new POI for communities in the Kuujjuaq LIR would be terrestrial, which would reduce the number of satellite hops required for transmission.
5. Bell Canada stated that CLECs already present in the Kuujjuaq LIR could either choose the proposed configuration or maintain their existing configuration, or settle on a mutually agreeable alternative configuration. The company noted that this approach is consistent with prior Commission practice.^{Footnote 1}
6. Bell Canada proposed an effective date of 30 April 2023.
7. The Commission received no interventions in respect of the application.

Commission’s analysis

8. Given the evidence, the Commission considers that Bell Canada’s proposal to consolidate its LIRs at Kuujjuaq and Trois-Rivières by creating a larger LIR at Trois-Rivières would provide the following benefits:
   • It would enable existing CLECs in either of the above LIRs, or new CLECs that connect to the proposed expanded LIR, to have access through a single POI in Trois Rivières to subscribers in all the communities served by the current LIRs.
   • It would result in an LIR at Trois-Rivières that is terrestrial-based, thus offering CLECs the benefit of more efficient voice transmission as well as improved quality of service for all fourteen communities currently served by the satellite-based Kuujjuaq LIR.
   • It would improve the trunking efficiency of interconnecting LECs, because combining the interconnection facilities of two separate LIRs into a single interconnection at Trois-Rivières would reduce the total number of interconnection trunks required and improve the trunk groups' performance.
   • It would result in cost savings for CLECs and Bell Canada, because only a single POI would be required.
9. Furthermore, the Commission considers that Bell Canada’s proposal would allow subscribers in the expanded LIR to benefit from a competitive environment characterized by the potential presence of a larger number of service providers.
10. The Commission finds that the above outcomes are consistent with its determinations in Trunking arrangements for the interchange of traffic and the point of interconnection between local exchange carriers, Telecom Decision CRTC 2004-46, 14 July 2004.

Conclusion

11. In light of the above, the Commission approves Bell Canada’s application, effective 8 December 2023.

Secretary General

Date modified:

2023-12-08