Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2016-205

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Ottawa, 31 May 2016

File number: 1011-NOC2016-0205

Establishment of a CISC ad hoc committee for relief planning for area code 709 in Newfoundland and Labrador

The Commission announces the establishment of a CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee ad hoc relief planning committee (RPC) to examine options and make recommendations for providing numbering relief to area code 709 in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Commission invites members of the public and telecommunications service providers to participate in the RPC’s activities.

Due to the jeopardy condition in area code 709, the Commission is also introducing additional central office (CO) code application requirements and requesting that the RPC develop CO code conservation measures to ensure that the projected exhaust date coincides with or falls after the scheduled relief implementation date.

Introduction

  1. On 22 April 2016, the Canadian Numbering Administrator (CNA) advised the Commission that, based on the results of the jeopardy numbering resource utilization forecast (J-NRUF),Footnote 1 area code 709 is projected to exhaust by March 2019. Area code 709 covers the whole province of Newfoundland and Labrador. You can consult the area code map on the CNA website.
  2. In Telecom Decision 2010-784, in response to a request by the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) Canadian Steering Committee on Numbering (CSCN) to reserve a number of Numbering Plan Area (NPA) codes for future area code relief in Canada, the Commission set aside area code 879 for future relief in Newfoundland and Labrador. In that decision, the Commission considered that there is a benefit in knowing with some degree of certainty which area codes could be used for relief in the future, and that setting aside certain area codes would provide the planning benefits requested by the industry.
  3. The Commission-approved Canadian NPA [Numbering Plan Area] Relief Planning Guideline (the Guideline)Footnote 2 provides the framework for addressing area code exhaust in Canada. The Guideline establishes a step-by-step process to be followed by the CNA and relief planning committees (RPCs). The Guideline requires relief planning activities to begin if an area code is projected to exhaust within the next 72 months.
  4. In accordance with the Guideline, area code 709 remains in a jeopardy condition since the projected exhaust date is within 42 months and the Commission has not yet approved related relief and implementation plans.Footnote 3 Since area code 709 is projected to exhaust within 33 months (i.e. in March 2019), the Commission considers that there is an urgent need for relief planning activity to commence immediately and to be completed as quickly as possible.
  5. The telecommunications industry conducts area code relief planning in a public manner through an ad hoc RPC under the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC). Part of the role of an RPC is to encourage public awareness and participation in the RPC’s activities.

RPC for area code 709

  1. With this notice, the Commission establishes the ad hoc RPC for area code 709 (the 709 RPC) under CISC and directs the CNA to chair this committee.
  2. The scope of the 709 RPC’s relief planning activities is limited to the consideration of solutions for introducing new numbering resources within the area currently served by area code 709. Since area code relief planning does not affect local or long distance calling patterns or rates, these issues are outside the scope of the 709 RPC’s relief planning activities.
  3. In rendering its decision on the relief measures to be adopted, the Commission will consider all relief options identified and recommendations made by the 709 RPC.
  4. The Commission notes that the 709 RPC may contemplate relief measures that would require some customers to change their telephone numbers. The Commission therefore encourages members of the public to participate in the 709 RPC’s activities.

Jeopardy condition

  1. Given that relief planning has yet to begin and the projected exhaust date is less than three years away, the Commission considers that code conservation measures, specified in Appendix F of the Guideline, are necessary to ensure that numbering resources are not exhausted before relief measures can be implemented. Further, the Commission directs that, while the area code 709 jeopardy condition is in effect, the number of central office (CO) code assignments per carrier shall not exceed that submitted by each carrier to the CNA for the April 2016 J-NRUF for area code 709.
  2. The Commission will require that any CO code application to the CNA be accompanied by a letter, on company letterhead and signed by a company officer, justifying the request and certifying that the requested CO code will be in service within four months of the date of that application.
  3. The Commission will also require applicants that request additional CO codes for growth to file a Telephone Number Utilization Report Form for the applicable switching entity. This form is to be signed by both a company officer and the company’s authorized representative.
  4. In addition, the Commission directs the 709 RPC to set aside two CO codes from area code 709 to be made available for new entrants, and to ensure that those CO codes remain unassigned, other than to new entrants, for a period of two years after the introduction of the new area code in Newfoundland and Labrador or until the pool is depleted, whichever occurs first. Each new entrant may only request one CO code from the available pool.

Procedure

  1. The CNA is to announce the location and time of the 709 RPC’s meetings and is to make all related documentation available on its website at www.cnac.ca. Members of the public who wish to participate in the 709 RPC’s activities may also reach the CNA by telephone at 613-563-7242.

Important notice

  1. All information that parties provide as part of this public process, except information designated confidential, whether sent by postal mail, facsimile, email, or through the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca, becomes part of a publicly accessible file and will be posted on the Commission’s website. This includes all personal information, such as full names, email addresses, postal/street addresses, and telephone and facsimile numbers.
  2. The personal information provided will be used and may be disclosed for the purpose for which the information was obtained or compiled by the Commission, or for a use consistent with that purpose.
  3. Documents received electronically or otherwise will be posted on the Commission’s website in their entirety exactly as received, including any personal information contained therein, in the official language and format in which they are received. Documents not received electronically will be available in PDF format.
  4. The information provided to the Commission as part of this public process is entered into an unsearchable database dedicated to this specific public process. This database is accessible only from the web page of this particular public process. As a result, a general search of the Commission’s website with the help of either its search engine or a third-party search engine will not provide access to the information that was provided as part of this public process.

Commission offices

  1. Documents are also available from the following Commission offices, upon request, during normal working hours.

    Toll-free telephone: 1-877-249-2782
    Toll-free TDD: 1-877-909-2782

    Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
    Central Building
    1 Promenade du Portage, Room 206
    Gatineau, Quebec  J8X 4B1
    Tel.: 819-997-2429
    Fax: 819-994-0218

    Metropolitan Place
    99 Wyse Road, Suite 1410
    Dartmouth, Nova Scotia  B3A 4S5
    Tel.: 902-426-7997
    Fax: 902-426-2721

Secretary General

Related documents

Footnotes

Footnote 1

The CNA began its yearly numbering resource utilization forecast (NRUF) activities for Canadian area codes in January 2016 in accordance with the Commission-approved Canadian Numbering Resource Utilization Forecast (C-NRUF) Guideline. The January 2016 NRUF showed that the projected exhaust date for area code 709 had advanced to May 2019. Consequently, on 14 March 2016 the CNA declared a jeopardy condition for area code 709 in accordance with section 8.1 of the Canadian NPA [Numbering Plan Area] Relief Planning Guideline (the Guideline) and requested input from central office code holders in NPA 709 for a J-NRUF. The results of the April 2016 J-NRUF show that the projected exhaust date for NPA 709 had advanced to March 2019.

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Footnote 2

Paragraph 8.1 of the Guideline lists the conditions used to determine when a jeopardy condition should be declared.

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Footnote 3

For the purposes of this notice, a new entrant is an entity who, at the time of its first request for the assignment of CO code(s) in an NPA, does not provide any telephony services and does not hold any CO codes within the boundaries of the exhausting NPA.

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