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Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to Imran Khan (Northwestel Inc.)

Ottawa–Gatineau, 6 February 2025

Reference: 8740-N1-202500397

BY E-MAIL

Imran, Khan
Chief Financial Officer & Vice-President
Northwestel Inc.
301 Lambert Street, fl 3
Whitehorse, Y1A 4Y4
regulatoryaffairs@nwtel.ca

Subject: Northwestel Inc. Retail Notice 1242 – Implementation of the credits for outages – Requests for Information

Dear Imran Khan:

On 30 January 2025, the Commission received an application from Northwestel Inc. proposing changes to its General Tariff, CRTC 3001, to revise Item 1735 – Terrestrial Internet Services and Item 1736 – Terrestrial Enterprise Internet Services.

Commission staff notes that the analysis is ongoing but additional information is required.

Paragraph 28(1) (a) of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure provides that the Commission may require parties to file information or documents where needed.

Accordingly, Northwestel Inc. is requested to provide comprehensive answers, including rationale and any supporting information, to the attached questions by 13 February 2025.

As set out in section 39 of the Telecommunications Act (the Act) and in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961, Procedures for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure in Commission proceedings, persons may designate certain information as confidential. A person designating information as confidential must provide a detailed explanation on why the relevant information qualifies for designation as confidential and why its disclosure would not be in the public interest, including why the specific direct harm that would be likely to result from the disclosure would outweigh the public interest in disclosure.

Furthermore, a person designating information as confidential must either file an abridged version of the document omitting only the information designated as confidential or provide reasons why an abridged version cannot be filed.

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. 

Given the timing of the responses, this application, along with any associated subsequent revisions, will not be approved on an interim basis on the 15th calendar day following receipt. However, the Commission intends to make its decision regarding the application and any subsequent revisions within 45 business days of receipt of the filing.

A copy of this letter will be added to the public record of this proceeding.

Yours sincerely

Original signed by

Michel Murray
Director, Dispute Resolution & Regulatory Implementation
Telecommunications Sector

c.c.: Jean-François Leblanc-Poirier, CRTC, (873) 455-9702,
jean-francois.leblanc-poirier@crtc.gc.ca

Attach. (1)

Requests for Information

  1. Refund Tied to Date of Outage:

    Item 1735, 3. (5) a. of Northwestel’s proposed tariff indicates that credits will be issued to customers no later than three billing cycles after the date of service restoration.

    Explain, with supporting rationale, how the proposed wording is compliant with paragraph 163 of Telecommunications in the Far North, Telecom Regulator Policy CRTC 2025-9, 16 January 2025 where the Commission directed Northwestel to provide automatic bill credits that are distributed no later than three billing cycles after the date of the outage.

    If changes are required to this provision, the company is to file an updated tariff page at the same time as the response to these requests for information.

  2. Clarification on Planned Outages:

    Item 1735, 3. (5) b. of Northwestel’s proposed tariff includes as an exception “any outage during a period when the customer has released the service to the Company for the purpose of implementing a change to the service”.

    Paragraph 157 of Telecommunications in the Far North, Telecom Regulator Policy CRTC 2025-9, 16 January 2025 specifies that the company is to provide automatic bill credits to its residential and business customers for terrestrial Internet service outages when an outage (including a planned outage) lasts for 24 hours or more.

    Explain, with supporting rationale, why such an outage should not be captured by the Commission’s determination. In your response, include

    1. Examples of scenarios where a customer releases the service for changes.
    2. How these scenarios are managed and communicated to customers.
    3. Any measures in place to minimize the impact of such outages on customers.
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