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Whereas, in the Decision, the Commission set out the details of the regulatory regime applicable to the provision of local Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services and determined that those services were part of the same market as local exchange services, that it would not be appropriate to forbear from regulating those services and that the regulatory framework governing local competition, set out in Telecom Decision CRTC 97-8, entitled Local Competition, and subsequent determinations, applied to those services, except as otherwise provided in the Decision;
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Whereas the Governor in Council considers that retail local access-dependent VoIP services are typically indistinguishable from traditional local telephone services, while retail local access-independent VoIP services are very different, as they require high-speed Internet access as well as special handsets, adapters or the use of a computer, and may be more susceptible to service deterioration or disruption;
Whereas the Governor in Council considers that retail local access-independent VoIP services should thus be treated as a distinct class of local telephone services, for regulatory purposes;
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Whereas the Governor in Council considers that barriers to market entry are much lower for retail local access-independent VoIP services as no provision of network facilities is required;
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Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Industry, pursuant to subsection 12(7) of the Telecommunications Act, varies Telecom Decision CRTC 2005-28, as amended by Telecom Decision CRTC 2005-28-1 and as confirmed in Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-53, so that, in relation to retail local access-independent VoIP services – being a particular class of services – provided by ILECs within their incumbent territories, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission refrain from exercising its powers and performing its duties under section 25, subsections 27(1), (5) and (6) and sections 29 and 31 of that Act to the same extent that it does in relation to retail local telecommunications services provided to end users by CLECs in Telecom Decision CRTC 97-8, Local Competition, and subsequent determinations. However, nothing in this Order prevents the Commission from exercising its powers and resuming regulation of retail local access-independent VoIP services provided by ILECs within their incumbent territories if, pursuant to subsection 34(3) of that Act, it finds, as a question of fact, that circumstances have changed so that to continue to refrain would be likely to impair unduly the establishment or continuance of a competitive market for the provision of those services. Telecom Decision CRTC 2005-28, as amended by Telecom Decision CRTC 2005-28-1 and as confirmed in Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-53, shall otherwise continue to apply, but to the extent that its provisions are inconsistent with this Order, they shall be interpreted so that the provisions of this Order prevail.
