Regulation & Policy: Centrex still the same as local business voice: CRTC

The CRTC maintained in a ruling last month that Centrex business telephony services are to be treated the same as other business local voice services for the purposes of deregulation. The June 19 decision denied an appeal from MTS Allstream, requesting the commission overturn a previous ruling on Centrex.The commission determined in the prior decision issued on January 31 that Centrex is the same as single-line or multiple-line business voice services in both geographic and product scope, and then ordered the deregulation of Centrex on a retroactive basis in any exchanges that had already received local business voice deregulation.The denied appeal is a blow to MTS Allstream, the country's largest competitor to Bell Canada and Telus Corp. in the business services segment. The company had argued in its appeal that because of the complex nature of Centrex, it couldn't be treated the same as traditional local business telephony services.Chris Peirce, chief regulatory officer with MTS, described the original decision as "wrong-headed" and "absurd" in an interview with Telemanagement in February. "We don't think a good decision for competition in general and certainly not for competitors delivering competitive alternatives to customers. It's really wrong-headed and is so at a few levels. We'll be appealing it soon," he said at the time.Rates for subscription to National Do-Not-Call List unveiledLast month, the CRTC took another step in bringing Canada's National Do-Not-Call List to reality with the release of the rates parties have to pay to subscribe to the list.For a national list of telephone numbers across all area codes, companies that conduct telemarketing activities and the firms to which they outsource calling operations will have to pay $11,280 for a one-year subscription. Parties wishing only to subscribe for six months have to pay $5,640 while three-month and one-month subscriptions will run at $2,970 and $1,125 respectively. Companies conducting regional telemarketing calls can also buy lists based on area code. Below is a table of the complete pricing scheme.Use spectrum auction windfall to give broadband to needy familiesMark Golberg, industry analyst and consultant, suggested at the Canadian Telecom Summit last month in Toronto that the unexpected windfall from Industry Canada's spectrum auction should be used to expand broadband to families that need it. He said rather than provide subsidies to service providers to expand the reach of their broadband networks, the money should be given directly to needy households in the form of a direct tax credit or incentive."This represents a way for the government to reinvest money generated from the telecommunications industry back into the industry to help bridge the digital divide and render broadband affordability a non issue," he told delegates.In an interview with Tech Media Reports, Goldberg said this would be a much better way of bridging the digital divide and would go to support households that need it. It would also get the government out of the game of picking "winners" and interfering with the market."It's a patronizing view to suggest that rural families can't afford the higher cost - look at the price of lettuce and other vegetables in northern Canada - we don't subsidize lettuce. If we're going to foster a reliance on market forces the right way to do that is to put the subsidy into the end users' hands and let them decide who the winners are. Broadband is universally available, now let's make it universally affordable," he said.Goldberg's plan doesn't address businesses requiring broadband access, as does the CRTC's deferral account decision. Under the commission's plan, incumbent telephone companies are supposed to use their deferral account money to expand broadband to previously unserved communities. That initiative allows the money to be used to serve businesses as well as residential customers.Prospect of Net Neutrality hearingNet Neutrality was a hot topic of conversation at last month's Canadian Telecom Summit and the CRTC weighed into the debate as well. Konrad von Finckenstein, commission chair, said its current examination of an appeal by the Canadian Association of Internet Providers of Bell Canada's traffic management practices is just the tip of the iceberg. He noted that Net Neutrality involved a whole host of other issues regarding technology, competition and access to content.Von Finckenstein said that, sooner or later, the time might come when it has to intervene. Reaction from some was they hope it's later.

Regulation & Policy: Centrex still the same as local business voice: CRTC

News | June 29, 2008

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