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Telecom Order CRTC 2006-151
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Ottawa, 16 June 2006 |
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Keewatin Municipal Telephone System and Kenora Municipal Telephone
System
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Reference: Keewatin Municipal Telephone
System Tariff Notices 14
and 15, and
Kenora Municipal Telephone System Tariff Notice 39 |
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Merger of Keewatin Municipal Telephone System General Tariff items
into Kenora Municipal Telephone System's General Tariff and withdrawal
of Keewatin Municipal Telephone System's General Tariff
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Background
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1. |
On 31 August 1999, the Commission
received a letter from the Kenora Municipal Telephone System (KMTS)
advising of the planned amalgamation of the Towns of Kenora, Keewatin,
and Jaffray Melick into the City of Kenora effective 1 January 2000.
KMTS also noted the intention of the City of Kenora to amalgamate the
operations of Keewatin Municipal Telephone System (Keewatin MTS) and
KMTS into one company effective 1 January 2000. |
2. |
In Order CRTC 2000-68,
1 February 2000, the Commission approved an application by KMTS, filed
under cover of KMTS Tariff Notices 18 and 18A, requesting that the
KMTS and Keewatin MTS General Tariffs remain intact. |
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The applications
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3. |
On 26 April 2006, the Commission received
an application by KMTS, under cover of Keewatin MTS Tariff Notice
14 (TN 14), proposing to align the rates in the Keewatin MTS General
Tariff with those in the KMTS General Tariff. The company submitted
that this would facilitate the proposed merger of the Keewatin MTS
and KMTS General Tariffs. |
4. |
Under TN 14, KMTS proposed to modify Keewatin
MTS' rates as follows: |
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- decrease the monthly business primary exchange service (PES)
rate from $29.00 to $28.91;
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- increase the residential and business administration service
charge from $13.10 to $15.80;
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- increase the residential and business premise visit service
charge from $10.85 to $12.25;
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- decrease the residential line connection service charge
from $15.40 to $14.70;
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- increase the business line connection charge from $19.40
to $20.25;
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- increase the residential premise work charge from $9.35 to
$9.60; and
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- increase the business premise work charge from $12.45 to
$15.20.
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5. |
KMTS noted that the residential service
charges are assigned to the fourth basket of services according to
the classification established in Revised regulatory framework
for the small incumbent local exchange carriers, Telecom Decision
CRTC 2006-14, 29
March 2006 (Decision 2006-14). KMTS also noted that, pursuant to Decision
2006-14, rates for
services assigned to the fourth basket are allowed to increase up
to any rate approved by the Commission for the same service. KMTS
submitted that the proposed service charges for Keewatin MTS customers
are identical to the rates currently applicable for KMTS' customers,
which were approved in Telecom Order CRTC 95-313,
15 March 1995. |
6. |
On 27 April 2006, the Commission received
an application by KMTS, under cover of Tariff Notice 39 (TN 39), proposing
to add to section 100 of its General Tariff the Keewatin MTS exchanges
and Extended Natural Call Centre Area, in order to facilitate the
proposed merger of the two tariffs. |
7. |
On 27 April 2006, the Commission received
an application by KMTS, under cover of Keewatin MTS Tariff Notice
15 (TN 15), proposing the merger of the Keewatin MTS General Tariff
and the KMTS General Tariff and requesting that the Commission approve
the withdrawal of the Keewatin MTS General Tariff effective 11
May 2006. |
8. |
On 10 May 2006, the Commission approved
on an interim basis Keewatin MTS TNs 14, 15 and KMTS TN 39 in
Telecom Order CRTC 2006-109. |
9. |
The Commission received no comments with
respect to the applications. |
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Commission's analysis and determinations
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10. |
The Commission notes that in Decision 2006-14,
it established that small incumbent local exchange carriers (SILECs)
should be subject to a simplified form of price regulation. The Commission
thus grouped services into four separate baskets, each with its own
pricing constraints. |
11. |
The first and second baskets comprise residential
PES and business PES respectively. The Commission determined that
the rates for the services in each of those baskets would be capped
at existing levels except for the use of unused rate increase credits
accumulated during the regulatory framework established in Regulatory
framework for the small incumbent telephone companies, Decision
CRTC 2001-756, 14
December 2001, in the absence of any exogenous factors. |
12. |
The third basket comprises 9-1-1 service,
message relay service and toll restriction. The Commission considered
it appropriate to freeze, at the existing tariffed rates, the rates
for those services provided directly by the SILECs. |
13. |
The fourth basket comprises all other
services offered by the SILECs, such as optional services,
multi-element service categories, special facilities tariffs and
competitor access tariffs. The Commission determined that rates for
those services would generally be permitted to increase up to any
already approved rate for the same service. |
14. |
The Commission notes that the KMTS
General Tariff and Keewatin MTS General Tariff have many similarities
and that KMTS' proposal has resulted in minimal rate changes, as noted
below, for the former customers of Keewatin MTS. |
15. |
Specifically, the Commission notes that
KMTS' proposal resulted in a $0.09 rate decrease for Keewatin MTS
business customers who subscribe to the individual line service and
will align the rate for this service with the KMTS rate that was given
final approval in Telecom Order CRTC 2005-171,
10 May 2005. |
16. |
The Commission notes that KMTS' proposal
resulted in rate increases (and one rate decrease) for Keewatin MTS
residential and business customers who will be subject to service
charges assigned to the fourth basket. The Commission notes that the
rates applicable to Keewatin MTS customers will be the rates
already approved for KMTS' customers. The Commissions therefore finds
that KMTS' proposal meets the requirements set out in Decision 2006-14. |
17. |
The Commission notes that with the
proposed rate changes, Keewatin and Kenora customers will be charged
the same rates for all services under the KMTS tariff. |
18. |
In light of the above, the Commission
approves on a final basis Keewatin MTS TNs 14 and 15, and KMTS
TN 39, including the withdrawal of the Keewatin MTS General Tariff. |
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Secretary General |
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This document is available in alternative
format upon request, and may also be examined in PDF
format or in HTML at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca
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