Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to the distribution list
Ottawa, 4 August 2023
Our reference: 1011-NOC2023-0092
Distribution List
Subject: Call for comments – Implementing thousand-block pooling, Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2023-92, 23 March 2023, as amended by 2023-92-1, and 2023-92-2
On 31 July 2023, Commission staff addressed requests for information (RFIs) to the parties listed in the Distribution List. Commission staff requested answers by 10 August 2023, and interventions on other parties’ responses by 15 August 2023.
On 1 August 2023, Bell Canada and Bragg Communications Inc., carrying on Business as Eastlink (Eastlink) filed separate requests for an extension to the filling dates outlined in the Staff Letter.
Bell Canada requested an extension to 25 August 2023 for responses and 15 September 2023 for replies, Eastlink requested an extension to 23 August 2023 for responses and 30 August 2023 for replies.
Bell Canada stated among other things that there are a number of issues being raised in the questions, most of these issues are highly technical in nature with many questions asking for the pros and cons of various means of addressing number exhaust. As such, Bell Canada stated that the questions will require discussions between subject matter experts as well as drafting that simply cannot be done within the current timeline.
Eastlink stated that as a smaller regional carrier with limited technical and regulatory resources, many of its resources are currently dedicated to other ongoing proceedings and projects over the course of the short response period. Eastlink noted that the response period falls over the August civic holiday weekend in many parts of the country, with many of its internal resources unavailable due to summer vacations. In order to ensure parties are able to adequately respond to the Commission’s questions, Eastlink submitted that the benefit of more thorough responses to the Commission’s questions outweighs any limited harm from this short extension.
In separate letters dated 2 August 2023, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. together with Fido Solutions Inc. and Shaw Telecom G.P.; Québecor Média Inc.; TekSavvy Solutions Inc. and TELUS Communications Inc. agreed with Eastlink and Bell Canada that the current timelines would not allow sufficient time to provide substantive responses to the Commission and even more so considering that this is the height of vacation season. All requested an extension to the dates for responses to the RFIs to 25 August 2023, with replies due 15 September 2023. By letter dated 3 August 2023, Saskatchewan Telecommunications supported the multiple carrier’s request for an extension.
Commission staff considers that while the issues at the heart of this proceeding require a timely response, the reasons provided by the parties for an extension to the dates set out in the 31 July 2023 letter are reasonable. Accordingly, all parties listed in the Distribution List are requested to provide comprehensive answers, including any supporting information, to the questions set out in the 31 July 2023 Commission staff letter by 23 August 2023.
Any party identified below may also file interventions on other parties’ responses to the requests for information with the Commission, serving a copy on all those listed in the distribution list, by 6 September 2023.
Where a document is to be filed or served by a specific date, the document must be actually received, not merely sent, by that date. The Commission requires the response or other documents to be submitted electronically by using the secured service “My CRTC Account” (Partner Log In or GCKey) and filling the “Telecom Cover page” located on this web page.
Sincerely,
Original signed by
Michel Murray
Director, Dispute Resolution and Regulatory Implementation
Telecommunications Sector
c.c. Jesslyn Mullaney, CRTC, jesslyn.mullaney@crtc.gc.ca
Distribution List:
Bell Canada.bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Canadian LNP Consortium Inc., chantale.neapole@clnpc.ca
Consortium de gestion de la numérotation canadienne inc., bill.barsley@cnacexec.ca
Eastlink, regulatory.matters@corp.eastlink.ca
Independent Telecommunications Providers Association, jonathan.holmes@itpa.ca
Iristel Inc., regulatory@iristel.com
Neustar, marcel.champagne@team.neustar
Québecor Média inc., regaffairs@quebecor.com
Rogers Communications Canada Inc., regulatory@rci.rogers.com
Saskatchewan Telecommunications, document.control@sasktel.com
TekSavvy Solutions Inc., regulatory@teksavvy.ca
TELUS Communicatons Inc regulatory.affairs@telus.com
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