Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to Marielle Wilson (Persona Communications Inc.)

Ottawa, 12 January 2023

Our reference: 8663-T66-202209733

BY EMAIL

Marielle Wilson
Vice President, Regulatory
Persona Communications Inc.
Suite 801, 6080 Young Street,
Halifax, NS B3K 5M3
regulatory.Matters@corp.eastlink.ca

RE:   Intention of TELUS Communications Inc. to enter Persona Communication Inc.’s operating territory as a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) in the Coldwater, Ontario, exchange

Dear Marielle Wilson:
On 22 December 2022, the Commission received a letter from Persona Communications Inc. (Persona’s), doing business as Eastlink, following the expression of interest by TELUS Communications Inc. (TELUS) to provide competitive services in the Coldwater, Ontario exchange.Footnote1

In its letter, Persona referenced a letter dated 23 November 2022, where the company outlined its plan for implementation of local competition in the Coldwater, Ontario exchange in relation to a request from Rogers Communications Canada Inc. pursuant to Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-14.

In that letter dated 23 November 2022, Persona submitted that, under its former name Amtelecom Limited Partnership (Amtelecom), it previously introduced local competition in the Aylmer, Ontario exchange with the Commission’s approval of the implementation plan in Telecom Decision CRTC 2018-393. The Commission approved Tariff Notice 82 to introduce tariff provisions to implement local competition in the serving territory of Persona, under former name Amtelecom, in Telecom Order CRTC 2020-249.

The company further submitted that, as outlined in the Persona General Tariff Section 1300, the former Amtelecom exchanges of Aylmer, Cambray, Coldwater, Dyer’s Bay, Lion’s Head, Manitowaning/Wikwemikong, Mindemoya, Port Burwell, Stokes Bay, Straffordville, and Tobermory are served by a single local interconnection region with a point of interconnection in Aylmer, Ontario. As local competition in the Aylmer exchange is already established, Persona confirmed that there are no other implementation issues to address in order to implement local competition in the Coldwater exchange. With respect to an implementation schedule, Persona proposed a deadline of 90 days from the date of its letter.

Persona acknowledged TELUS’ intent to enter the Coldwater exchange as a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier. Persona reaffirms the implementation plan as filed with the Commission on 23 November 2022 with an implementation date of 21 February 2023, which is 90 days from the filing of the implementation plan.

Staff considers that TELUS can begin offering its services in the Coldwater, Ontario exchange starting 21 February 2023. Further, staff reminds both companies that a Master Agreement for Local Interconnection (MALI) and an Appendix C must be signed for the Coldwater, Ontario exchange. The notification requirements for CLECs can be found in Telecom Decision CRTC 2012-396.

Sincerely,

Original signed by

Michel Murray
Director, Dispute Resolution and Regulatory Implementation
Telecommunications Sector

c.c.:  Christine Brock, CRTC, 873-353-5852, christine.brock@crtc.gc.ca
Simon-Pierre Olivier, regulatory@rci.rogers.com     
Kim Brisson St-Jean, CRTC, kim.brisson-st-jean@crtc.gc.ca

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