Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to the Distribution List
Ottawa, 12 January 2024
Reference(s): 8661-E17-202202274
BY EMAIL
Distribution List
Re: Part 1 application for an immediate and comprehensive review of the wholesale roaming tariff rates of the National Wireless Carriers – requests for information
On 19 May 2022, the Commission received an application from Bragg Communications Inc., carrying on business as Eastlink (Eastlink), Cogeco Communications Inc., on behalf of its subsidiary Cogeco Connexion Inc. (Cogeco), Quebecor Media Inc., on behalf of its subsidiary Videotron Ltd. (Videotron) and Xplornet Communications Inc. and Xplore Mobile Inc. (together, “Xplornet”) (together the Applicants) requesting that the Commission:
- initiate a comprehensive review of the wholesale roaming tariff rates of Bell Mobility Inc. (Bell Mobility), Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Rogers), and TELUS Communications Inc. (TELUS) (collectively “the National Wireless Carriers”);
- state its intent to consider a mechanism whereby any newly approved wholesale roaming rates will decline on an annual basis thereafter; and
- immediately declare all the wholesale roaming tariff rates of the National Wireless Carriers to be interim rates.
The record of this proceeding can be found on the Commission’s website here under file number 8661-E17-202202274.
As part of the record-building process, in a letter dated 16 March 2023, Commission staff invited registered wireless carriers who are wholesale roaming customers of the National Wireless Carriers to comment on potential changes to the way wholesale roaming rates are set.
It has recently come to Commission staff’s attention that certain registered wireless carriers, including your company, may also have roaming arrangements with the National Wireless Carriers and may therefore also have an interest in the outcome of this proceeding. Accordingly, we are extending the opportunity to your company to provide its views on the Commission’s approach to setting wholesale roaming rates, as set out in the questions below:
- Are you currently providing retail mobile wireless services in Canada?
- Do you have a domestic wholesale roaming agreement with a National Wireless Carrier or other wireless carrier in Canada? If so, please identify which carrier(s).
- In Telecom Regulatory Policy 2021-130 the Commission mandated the provision of wholesale mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) access by Bell, Rogers, TELUS, and SaskTel. The Commission determined that, rather than having cost-based tariffed rates for MVNO access, parties should instead enter into commercial negotiations to set rates, with final offer arbitration (FOA) by the Commission available as a recourse in the event negotiations were to fail.
- Provide your views on whether the Commission should adopt a similar rate-setting approach for wholesale roaming, including seamless handoff where it is available, where rates are negotiated between wireless carriers, with FOA by the Commission available as a recourse if negotiations are unsuccessful. To be clear, in this scenario the Commission-approved terms and conditions set out in the wholesale roaming tariffs would remain in place; only the associated rates would be subject to negotiations.
- If the Commission were to determine that parties should enter into commercial negotiations to set rates for wholesale roaming with recourse to FOA, provide your views, with supporting rationale, on i) whether the Commission should also maintain a cost-based tariffed rate as a backstop; and ii) under what conditions rate renegotiations should occur, and at what frequency, if any.
If you intend to file a submission in response to the above questions, please do so by 26 January 2024. Responses can be filed on the Commission’s website using GCKey. The Applicants may, by 2 February 2024, file a reply related solely to any submissions filed in response to the questions posed in this letter.
Please ensure that any claims for confidentiality are made in accordance with the requirements set out in the CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure, pincluding, for example, the requirement to file abridged versions of documents.
All documents must be received, and not merely sent, by the dates indicated.
Sincerely,
Original signed by
Philippe Kent
Director, Telecommunications Services Policy
Telecommunications Sector
c.c.: Jeremy Lendvay, CRTC, jeremy.lendvay@crtc.gc.ca
Julian Brainerd, CRTC, julian.brainerd@crtc.gc.ca
William Lloyd, CRTC, William.lloyd@crtc.gc.ca
Attachement - Distribution list
Distribution List
Wireless Carriers
A.B.C. Allen Business Communications rey.sonico@telus.com
Globalstar Canada david.milla@globalstar.com
Gogo Connectivity asilverman@gogoair.com
K-NET adilinden@lp.knet.ca
Sichuun and Naskapi Imuun regulatory@sichuun.com , pande@atmacinta.com
Provincial Tel rdo@provtel.com
SpaceX cassandra.heyne@spacex.com
Star Solutions International michael.bond@starsolutions.com
Applicants
Cogeco mtl.telecomregulatory@cogeco.com
Eastlink regulatory.matters@corp.eastlink.ca
Videotron regaffairs@quebecor.com
Xplornet xplornet.legal@corp.xplornet.com
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