ARCHIVED -  Letter

Ottawa, 10 December 2013

Our reference: 8740-R28-201315846

BY EMAIL

Mr. David Watt
Vice President, Regulatory Telecommunications
Rogers Communications Partnership
333 Bloor Street East
Toronto, Ontario M4W 1G9
david.watt@rci.rogers.com

RE: Rogers Communications Partnership – Tariff Notice 33 – Request for disclosure of information

Dear Mr. Watt:

The Commission is in receipt of a correspondence dated 20 November 2013 from Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc. (CNOC) requesting that certain information filed in confidence by Rogers Communications Partnership (Rogers) in the Report on the Economic Evaluation for Third Party Internet Access (TPIA) Service Monthly End-User Access Rates (cost studies) associated with Rogers Tariff Notice 33 (TN 33) be placed on the public record. CNOC submits that disclosure of the requested information is required by Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2012-592 (TRP 2012-592) and the directives contained in a Commission staff letter dated 12 July 2012.

In a letter dated 27 November 2013, Rogers replied that, except for the revenue percent charge rate used in the cost studies, the level of TPIA demand at the beginning of the study period, and the present worth of annual costs for billing expenses, the information provided in its TN 33 is fully compliant with the Commission’s directions regarding disclosure of information used in the development of wholesale service cost studies. According to Rogers, apart from these three items, the other disclosures requested by CNOC are not relevant as the information in question was not used in the cost studies. Rogers provided an attachment to its correspondence indicating which disclosure claims

by CNOC were irrelevant, and disclosing the information on the three items indicated above.

Consistent with Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961, dated 23 December 2010, the abridged version of submissions to the Commission must omit only that information which is designated confidential. Information that is not itself inherently sensitive, such as tables of contents, headings and sentences that do not themselves contain information designated confidential, should not be omitted from the document. The abridged version should not be edited in a manner that makes it difficult or impossible to determine the places where, and the extent to which, information has been omitted. Documents should not be reformatted; for example, where text is removed, the space occupied by the omitted material should be left blank. It is helpful when the symbol “#” is inserted where abridged information has been omitted.

Commission staff is of the view that, except for the items noted below, Rogers has complied with the disclosure requirements outlined in TRP 2012-592, and the directives detailed in the Commission staff letter of 12 July 2012.

• As set out in the Appendix to TRP 2012-592, for each new wholesale service provided to competitors, the wholesale service provider is required to disclose the demand forecast by speed, including the demand at the beginning of the study period. As Rogers did not provide the required information Commission staff requests that Rogers provide and disclose this information.

• Commission staff notes that, Rogers did not provide the abridged version of Table 6b – Capital and Equipment and Table 6b A1 – Capital Equipment. Accordingly, Commission staff requests that abridged versions as described above be provided on the public record and that the following information be disclosed in the tables.

o In Table 6b – Capital and Equipment, for each capital item, disclose the name of the capital item, reporting cost category and increment cost driver demand forecast.
o In Table 6b A1 – Capital Equipment, disclose all information contained within the table except for the columns titled, “Supplier Price in Canadian $” and “Unit Cost per Segment”.

If Rogers disagrees with any of the above disclosure requests, Rogers must provide a detailed rationale to explain why the disclosure of the information is not in the public interest, including why the specific direct harm that would be likely to result from the disclosure would outweigh the public interest.

As per Attachment 1 of the Commission staff letter dated 12 July 2013, the information provided in Table 6a – Expenses, Table 6b – Capital, Table 6c-CapExp Param, Table 6d – Revenues, Table 8c - Third-Party Costs, and Table 8d - Wholesale Srv Compon are to be provided in Microsoft Excel Format. Rogers provided this information in PDF format. Therefore, Commission staff requests that Rogers re-file, all of the above mentioned tables inclusive of the disclosure requirements, in Microsoft Excel Format.

All of the above requested information should be received by the Commission by 16 December 2013. Interested parties may provide comments on TN 33 by 13 January 2014 and Rogers will have until 20 January 2014 to file its reply.

The Commission is in receipt of a correspondence dated 4 December 2013 from CNOC requesting that additional information be filed by Rogers and be placed on the public record. This letter is available on the public record and will be considered in due course.

Yours truly,

Original signed by

Lyne Renaud
Director, Costing and Competitor Services
Telecommunications Sector

c.c.: William Sandiford, CNOC, regulatory@cnoc.ca
Patrick Owens, Senior Analyst, CRTC, 819-953-7159, patrick.owens@crtc.gc.ca
Ramin Adim, Senior Analyst, CRTC, 819-997-4298, ramin.adim@crtc.gc.ca

Date modified:

2013-12-10