GATINEAU — The CRTC announced Tuesday it’s extending the deadline for interventions to its review of the rate-setting methodology for wholesale telecom services.
When the wholesale rate-setting review proceeding was announced in April, the intervention deadline was set as July 23, with replies to interventions due August 24.
In an updated notice of consultation today, the Commission has revised the intervention deadline to August 13 and is suspending the deadline for replies.
This comes after Rogers and TekSavvy separately asked for extensions to the deadlines. Rogers made its request for various reasons, including competing priorities related to other regulatory proceedings, Covid-19-related workload impacts and employees needing to take vacations deferred due to the pandemic. Rogers wanted the two deadlines extended by two weeks.
For its part, TekSavvy said it wanted the intervention deadline extended to August 13 because it needed to retain experts, and like Rogers, it had competing priorities with other regulatory proceedings and work-scheduling impacts related to Covid-19. TekSavvy also asked for a suspension of the deadline for replies to interventions due to the expectation the record created by the proceeding is likely to be voluminous and complex.
Cogeco, Shaw and Telus supported Rogers’ request, and CNOC and PIAC supported TekSavvy’s proposal.
In agreeing to extend the intervention deadline by three weeks to August 13 and also suspending the deadline for replies, the Commission says it will assess deadlines and the need for further process, after it receives and analyzes the interventions, which could be sizeable in volume.
“The Commission considers that the establishment of a complete record for this proceeding, which will lay the groundwork for wholesale rate-setting methodology for years to come, will not be adversely affected as a result of these procedural changes.”
