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ARCHIVED - Order CRTC 2000-801

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Order CRTC 2000-801

Ottawa, 25 August 2000
Option to purchase agreement approved for Bell Canada's partial system offering facilities
 Reference: 8740-B2-5928/97
The Commission approves Bell Canada's 26 April 2000 option to purchase agreement for partial system offering facilities. It also approves other elements proposed in Bell Canada's associated submission.

1.

In Bell Canada withdrawal from partial system offering and introduction of an option to purchase leased plant, Telecom Order CRTC 99-1233, dated 23 December 1999, the Commission, among other things, required Bell Canada to file a proposed agreement detailing the terms of an option to purchase (OTP) its partial system offering (PSO) facilities. In that order, the Commission provided its preliminary view as to the OTP terms and conditions which it considers to be reasonable.

2.

On 7 February 2000, Bell Canada submitted a proposed OTP agreement which, in addition to including the terms preliminarily approved by the Commission, also presented an alternate approach to effecting the sale and transfer of ownership, and to converting from PSO to support structure offering (SSO) agreements.

3.

The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) and Mountain Cablevision Limited filed comments on 23 March 2000. On 26 April 2000, Bell Canada replied, filing a revised OTP agreement. On the same day, the CCTA filed a brief letter indicating that it approved Bell Canada's 26 April 2000 proposal, and asking the Commission to approve it.

4.

The Commission has considered the parties' submissions, including Bell Canada's revised OTP agreement and proposal, and approves both:
a) the revised OTP agreement dated 26 April 2000; and
b) all elements of Bell Canada's revised proposal, including those that are only detailed in Bell Canada's submission, to which the OTP agreement was annexed.

5.

The elements detailed in Bell Canada's submission include the following:
a) a streamlined process for conversion from PSO to SSO arrangements; and
b) for PSO clients who wish to purchase the PSO plant under Bell Canada's alternate proposal, under which the price is calculated based on the information resident in Bell Canada's billing system:

i) the method used to calculate the average depreciated per-metre value of a given PSO plant;

ii) the provision, by Bell Canada, of an invoice to PSO clients, stating the total number of metres of PSO plant, the average depreciated value per metre and the total net book value of the plant;

iii) the charging of legal costs of $1,000 per system sold;

iv) the charging of administrative costs on the basis of Bell Canada's existing labour rates plus a 25 percent mark-up to cover costs such as use of computer workstations, Bell Canada vehicles, etc.;

v) for PSO clients who request a report breaking down the cable vintages and the associated number of metres in a system, the charging of the production costs at Bell Canada's existing labour rates plus a 25 percent mark-up;

vi) to the extent that the terms of the rights-of-way granted to Bell Canada allow for these to be transferred or extended to a PSO client, Bell Canada's agreement to transfer or extend such rights-of-way;

vii) the acceptance, by the PSO clients, of the plant "where is, as is" unless the PSO client identifies in writing to Bell Canada, prior to acceptance of the depreciated PSO value, any defects which require correction by Bell Canada; and

viii) the ability of PSO clients to accompany Bell Canada on field visits.

Secretary General
This document is available in alternative format upon request and may also be examined at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca

Date Modified: 2000-08-25

Date modified: