Telecom - Secretary General letter addressed to the Distribution List
Ottawa, 6 July 2023
Reference: 1011-NOC2023-0056
BY EMAIL
Distribution List
RE: Notice of hearing - Review of the wholesale high speed access framework, Telecom Notice of Consultation 2023-56 – Disclosure of information designated as confidential
This letter addresses requests for disclosure of certain information designated as confidential in the intervention filed by TELUS Communications Inc. (TELUS) on 24 April 2023, as part of the proceeding initiated by Telecom Notice of Consultation 2023-56.
On 4 May 2023, the Canadian Network Operators Consortium and TekSavvy Inc. filed submissions requesting disclosure of certain information filed in confidence in that intervention.
After assessing the relevant submissions, Commission staff requested, by way of letter dated 13 June 2023, that TELUS disclose certain of its information filed in confidence in its intervention.
In a letter dated 15 June 2023, TELUS requested a Commission determination with respect to one specific item for which Commission staff directed disclosure.
General principles
Requests for disclosure of information designated as confidential are addressed in light of sections 38 and 39 of the Telecommunications Act (the Act) and sections 30 and following of the CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure. In evaluating a request, an assessment is made as to whether the information falls into a category of information that can be designated as confidential pursuant to section 39 of the Act. An assessment is then made as to whether there is any specific direct harm likely to result from the disclosure of the information in question and whether any such harm outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
In making this evaluation, several factors are taken into consideration, including the degree of competition and the importance of disclosure of the information for the purpose of obtaining a fulsome record. The factors considered are discussed in more detail in Procedures for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure in Commission proceedings, Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961, 23 December 2010, as amended by Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961-1, 26 October 2012.
Disclosure
Upon refiling its intervention in response to the disclosure order issued by Commission staff, TELUS maintained confidence over the percentage of premises in its territory covered by its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, as submitted in paragraph 67.
TELUS argued that disclosure of the information would signal TELUS’ plans to its competitors, allowing them to strategize their deployments and/or adjust their marketing plans to better compete, resulting in material financial loss to TELUS. It further argued that there is no public interest in disclosing the specific percentage of fibre deployment as the information is not necessary for parties to be able to respond to the TELUS’ arguments.
The Commission finds that TELUS does not consistently treat the number of households covered by its fibre optic network as confidential, having disclosed the number of premises passed by its fibre network in its own quarterly and annual earnings reports. Furthermore, disclosing the percentage of premises passed would be of limited use in shaping competitor conduct as it gives no specific information on the exact location of TELUS’ fibre footprint, nor does it speak to future network deployment plans.
By contrast, the Commission considers that there is significant public interest in knowing the degree to which TELUS has built out its fibre network, as the information will help parties better formulate their arguments with respect to whether there is a need to mandate aggregated HSA FTTP access, resulting in a more fulsome public record in the proceeding.
Accordingly, TELUS is to file with the Commission within three days of this letter a new abridged version of its intervention dated 24 April 2023, disclosing the percentage of homes passed by fibre stated in paragraph 67 therein.
Yours sincerely,
Original signed by
Claude Doucet
Secretary General
Distribution List
Bell Canada, bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Cogeco, telecom.regulatory@cogeco.com
Eastlink, regulatory.matters@corp.eastlink.ca
RCCI, regulatory@rci.rogers.com
SaskTel, document.control@sasktel.sk.ca
Shaw, Regulatory@sjrb.ca
TCI, regulatory.affairs@telus.com
Videotron, regaffairs@quebecor.com
CNOC, regulatory@cnoc.ca
Community Fibre, ben@communityfibre.ca
Comwave, legal@comwave.net
Public Interest Advocacy Centre, jlawford@piac.ca
TekSavvy, regulatory@teksavvy.ca;
Vaxination Informatique, jfmezei@vaxination.ca
John Roman, johnphiliproman@gmail.com
WaveDirect Telecommunications Limited, joanne@wavedirect.org
Vaxxine Computer Systems Inc., president@vaxxine.com
Truespeed Internet Services Inc., adam@truespeed.ca
SkyChoice Communications, serge@skychoice.ca
Securenet, info@securenet.net
Secure by Design, kirk@secure-by-design.com
OpenMedia, erin@openmedia.org
Netrevolution inc., drouleau@gtvr.com
National Capital FreeNet, execdir@ncf.ca
IGS Hawkesbury Inc., jbogue@hawkmail.ca
First Mile Connectivity Consortium, info@firstmile.ca
Devtel Communications Inc., devin@devtelcommunications.ca
CPC, campbell@campbellpatterson.com
Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project (CAMP), keldon@antimonopoly.ca
Beanfield , todd@beanfield.com
Marc Nanni, mn_crtc@proton.me
Competition Bureau, Conor.Parson@cb-bc.gc.ca
Competition Bureau, crtc2023-56@cb-bc.gc.ca
Coextro, skhandor@coextro.com
Carry Telecom, frankw@carrytel.ca
Execulink, yasmin.charania@execulinktelecom.ca
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