ARCHIVED - Letter
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Ottawa, 1 October 2009
Our file No: 8661-O40-200911778
Ms. Cindy Quigley
President
On Call Internet Services Ltd.
1158-8th Street
Kamloops, BC V2B 2Y2
Mr. Ted Woodhead
Vice-President
Telecom Policy and Regulatory Affairs
TELUS Communications Company
215 Slater Street, 8th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1P 0A6
Dear Ms. Quigley and Mr. Woodhead:
Re: Part VII Application by On Call Internet Services Ltd. for Urgent and Expedited Relief against Service Suspension and Disconnection by TELUS Communications Company
A. Application
On 19 August 2009, On Call Internet Services Ltd. (On Call) made an application, pursuant to Part VII of the CRTC Telecommunications Rules of Procedure (the Rules of Procedure), submitting that TELUS Communications Company (TCC) had filed a notice of intent to terminate all services provided to On Call on 29 August 2009. In its application, On Call requested the following interim relief prior to 29 August 2009:
a. an order directing TCC to immediately withdraw its notice of intent to terminate services provided to On Call on 29 August 2009;
b. an order directing TCC to process new orders from On Call for existing services;
c. an order directing TCC to release excess deposit funds held over and above that which is permitted under tariff;
d. an order directing TCC to accept and deal with the billing disputes raised by On Call in accordance with TCC’s General Terms of Service; and
e. that the interim award be filed with the Federal Court of Canada.
On Call also requested that the Commission issue directives on procedure which would be shorter than the standard 30 days set out in the Rules of Procedure for Part VII applications. On Call further requested that the Commission grant a hearing into this matter.
B. Process
On 26 August 2009, TCC filed comments with regard to On Call’s Part VII application, in which it opposed the interim relief as sought.
On 27 August 2009, the Commission issued a letter directing TCC to suspend its notice of intent to terminate services provided to On Call, pending a resolution of On Call’s request for interim relief. The Commission further modified the process set out in the Rules of Procedure for Part VII applications to allow further comment from the parties.
TCC chose not to provide comments supplementary to its 26 August 2009 comments, and On Call filed reply comments on 14 September 2009.
C. On Call’s request for interim relief
On Call and TCC have been engaged in billing disputes regarding telecommunications services for several years. During this period, TCC has issued monthly bills to On Call and On Call has routinely challenged TCC on the accuracy of its billing. The parties have attempted to resolve their disputes, with limited success.
In an attempt to resolve the ongoing dispute, On Call and TCC signed a letter agreement on 14 February 2008 (the Letter Agreement) wherein both parties agreed to various conditions with respect to payments by On Call on a going-forward basis. One condition was that On Call would make a monthly payment of $34,000 into a trust account, from which any undisputed monthly fees would be paid.
In addition, the Letter Agreement provided that the parties would proceed to arbitration on the outstanding issues between them.
To date, On Call has allegedly ceased paying some or all of the $34,000 monthly payment required by the Letter Agreement, although On Call has made monthly payments into a separate trust account not considered by the Letter Agreement. Accordingly, on 30 July 2009 TCC notified On Call that it would terminate all services provided to On Call on 29 August 2009 due to the alleged breach of the Letter Agreement.
D. Further process
In order to aid the Commission in expediting this process, Commission staff is issuing interrogatories in order to obtain further information on this dispute. The interrogatories can be found in Appendix 1 to this letter. Parties are asked to limit the information that they provide in response to Commission interrogatories to facts.
For interrogatories 1) through 3), parties are to file their responses with the Commission, serving a copy on the other party, by 13 October 2009. By no later than 20 October 2009, parties are to file with the Commission, serving a copy on the other party, its reply comments to the other party’s responses.
For interrogatories 4) and 5), On Call is to file its response with the Commission, serving a copy on TCC, by 19 October 2009. By no later than 26 October 2009, TCC is to file with the Commission, serving a copy on On Call, its reply comments to On Call’s responses.
Where a party designates information filed with the Commission as confidential, pursuant to section 19 of the Rules of Procedure, it must provide the reasons for its claim for confidentiality at the time it files the information with the Commission. However, to the extent possible, parties are encouraged to provide to the other party to this proceeding a complete copy of materials that are filed. In the case of a confidential filing, if it chooses to do so, the other party has two days to make representations to the Commission, clearly starting why it considers the disclosure of the information filed in confidence is in the public interest, serving a copy on the party claiming confidentiality. The party claiming confidentiality will have two days to file a reply, serving a copy on the requesting party.
Documents to be filed and served in accordance with the above process are to be received, not merely sent, by the dates indicated. Copies of the documents should also be sent to the following email addresses: kevin.pickell@crtc.gc.ca and eric.bowles@crtc.gc.ca.
The above-established process is set out in order to allow the Commission to dispose of On Call’s request for interim relief. After reviewing the information provided, the Commission will make a decision on the need for further information and further process, if needed, or will issue a decision with regard to On Call’s request for interim relief.
Yours sincerely,
Original signed by
Mario Bertrand
Director
Competition Implementation and Technology
Telecommunications
cc: Kevin Pickell, CRTC, kevin.pickell@crtc.gc.ca
Eric Bowles, CRTC, eric.bowles@crtc.gc.ca
Appendix 1
1) On Call and TCC are each to provide, with supporting documentation:
a. the payments made by On Call, on a monthly basis, into any trust account from
1 March 2009 to present;b. the amount invoiced by TCC, on a monthly basis, for services provided to On Call from 1 March 2009 to present;
c. the amount paid from any trust account or directly from On Call toward the invoices generated by TCC, on a monthly basis, from 1 March 2009 to present.
2) On Call and TCC are each to provide a breakdown of the services provided to On Call by TCC in September 2009. Each service should be detailed, with supporting documentation if possible, as follows:
a. whether the service is tariffed, referencing the appropriate tariff items, or non-tariffed, referencing the appropriate Commission decision where such service was forborne;
b. the quantity of each service provided (for example 27 ADSL ports); and
c. the monthly charge(s) for each service.
3) On Call and TCC are each to provide evidence of any services terminated by On Call since
1 March 2009, supported by documentation evidencing such termination.
4) Assuming that TCC is directed to provide new services to On Call, On Call is to provide, with supporting documentation if possible:
a. identification of each new service anticipated to be ordered for the months of November 2009 to January 2010;
b. whether each new anticipated service is tariffed, referencing the appropriate tariffed items, or non-tariffed, referencing the appropriate Commission decision where such service was forborne;
c. the quantity of each new anticipated service; and
d. the anticipated monthly charge for each new anticipated service.
5) On Call is to provide factual evidence that On Call does not represent an abnormal risk of loss to TCC. Specifically, On Call should provide evidence that demonstrates that, in the event it is determined that On Call must pay TCC the estimated $600,000 that TCC alleges it is owed, On Call has the capacity to make such a payment.
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