Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to the Distribution List
Ottawa, 23 June 2023
Our reference: 8620-B2-202303858
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Distribution List
Subject: Bell Canada Part 1 Application regarding access to Rogers’ wireless network in the TTC
Bell Canada Inc. (Bell) filed a Part 1 application, dated 15 June 2023, seeking a number of remedies to obtain timely access to the wireless network of the Toronto Transit Commission subway system (the TTC) in order to install its own equipment. This network was recently acquired by Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Rogers) and is undergoing upgrades to improve coverage and service quality. Citing the urgency of the situation, Bell also requested that the Commission conduct an expedited process to deal with its application.
Rogers filed a response letter dated 19 June 2023 opposing Bell’s application, including the request for urgent and expedited assistance by the Commission. Rogers argued that there is no credible basis for deviating from the CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure, and that granting such relief would be contrary to the public interest and procedural fairness since there are other parties that may wish to participate beyond Bell and Rogers.
Concerning the issues raised in the Part 1 application, Bell and Rogers, and indeed all other stakeholders involved in the deployment of wireless facilities in the TTC, are strongly urged to work together to resolve what mainly appear to be contractual and technical matters, as they have done in the past with similar projects, to avoid the need for unnecessary regulatory intervention by the Commission.
Nevertheless, Bell has asked for an expedited process to deal with its application, which has been posted on the Commission’s website. In this regard, Commission staff considers that granting such a request may limit the ability of other potential parties to file fulsome interventions or prevent them from filing submissions altogether. As such, the public interest would best be served by maintaining the standard timeframes of 30 days for parties to submit interventions and 10 days for Bell to submit reply comments.
Sincerely,
Original signed by
Leila Wright
Executive Director,
Sector Telecommunications
c.c.: Philippe Kent, CRTC, philippe.kent@crtc.gc.ca
Michel Murray, CRTC, Michel.murray@crtc.gc.ca
Jeremy Lendvay, CRTC, jeremy.lendvay@crtc.gc.ca
Distribution List
bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Regulatory@rci.rogers.com
regaffairs@quebecor.com
piac@piac.ca
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