OTTAWA – A squabble between a Canadian telco and an American reseller that saw 27,000 Canadians temporarily lose their phone services has prompted the CRTC to evaluate the disconnection practices between telecommunications service providers.
The Commission issued a call for comments Thursday as part of a proceeding to consider whether regulatory measures are required to mitigate future occurrences of situations similar to the dispute between Toronto-area telecom Iristel Inc. and American VoIP provider netTALK that played out earlier this year.
Specifically, the CRTC is seeking feedback, with supporting rationale, on the following questions:
- Should the Commission impose an obligation that contracts for telecommunications services between two telecommunications service providers, including between (i) two Canadian carriers, (ii) a Canadian carrier and a reseller, or (iii) two resellers, include a minimal time frame for notice of intent to disconnect (e.g. 30 days)?
- Should telecommunications service providers be required to advise the Commission, on a timely basis, when a notice of intent to disconnect services to other telecommunications service providers is issued so that the Commission can attempt to help parties find a solution to prevent service interruptions to end-customers?
- Are there any other measures that the Commission could employ to ensure that the disconnection by one telecommunications service provider of another does not unduly affect end-customers, such as an obligation to provide end-customers with notice prior to disconnection?
- To which telecommunications services should any of the above measures apply (e.g. residential primary exchange services, mobile wireless services, and Internet access services)?
Interventions are due before September 19 and replies to interventions may be filed with the Commission by September 27, 2016.
