Expanded local calling in Greater Sudbury
Beginning April 8, 2008, the City of Greater Sudbury's local calling area (LCA) will be expanded to allow residents and businesses in Greater Sudbury to call anywhere in the city without incurring long-distance charges.
The expanded toll-free calling initiative, which comes as Bell's response to a request from Greater Sudbury City Council, will include all of Greater Sudbury, as well as portions of the Municipality of Markstay-Warren, the Township of Nairn and Hyman, and the Wahnapitae and Whitefish Lake First Nations. (Portions of these municipalities and First Nations are included in the program because they share telephone exchanges with areas of Greater Sudbury. The local calling area is based on telephone exchanges rather than municipal boundaries.)
Important Note:
If you are affected by the expansion of the City of Greater Sudbury's local calling area, be sure to re-program your communications equipment for local calling by removing the '1” from programmed numbers that used to be long distance. This is especially important for security and alarm systems. It may also be required for speed dialling, fax machines and automatic diallers.
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Background
Q: Why did the City of Greater Sudbury want to expand its local calling area?
A: Following amalgamation in 2001, it was recognized that residents and businesses within the City of Greater Sudbury should be able to call one another without incurring long distance charges.
Q: What process did we follow?
A: Expanding the local calling area in Greater Sudbury was one of 35 recommendations put forward in the Constellation City Report, prepared by the Community Solutions Team. This report focused on key concerns identified by citizens during a number of community consultation sessions, and City Council has been working to implement these recommendations throughout the past year.
In June 2007, City Council approved a recommendation to expand the local calling area in Greater Sudbury, and asked Bell to proceed with the required research. The City also consulted with two adjacent municipalities and two First Nations communities, portions of which will be affected by the expanded calling area, and obtained their approval. Bell then filed a request with the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) for approval.
Q: Who approved these changes?
A: The CRTC granted interim approval for the expansion of Greater Sudbury's local calling area on December 18, 2007.
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Timing
Q: When does the change take place?
A: The expanded local calling area takes effect on April 8, 2008.
Q: Who is affected?
A: The expanded calling area will include all of Greater Sudbury, as well as portions of the Municipality of Markstay-Warren, the Township of Nairn and Hyman, and the Wahnapitae and Whitefish Lake First Nations. Please see the map for more information.
Q: If I live outside Greater Sudbury, will I be impacted? Why and how?
A: If you live outside Greater Sudbury, your calling area will not be affected unless you have a telephone line in one of the areas to which local calling was extended (see areas affected by the expanded local calling area in the above question). If you do have a telephone line in one of these affected exchanges, then you will also benefit from the expansion of local calling and pay the surcharge for the three-year period.
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How does the expanded LCA impact me?
Q: Where can I call now without long distance charges? What has changed?
A: In the past, residents in many of Greater Sudbury's communities were faced with long-distance charges when calling other areas of the city. Now, all residents and businesses in Greater Sudbury will have the ability to call anywhere in the city without incurring long-distance charges. A few areas outside the city boundaries are also included, as they are part of telephone exchanges that fall within Greater Sudbury.
Q: What about the areas I used to call free as local calls? Is there any change to those?
A: All areas to which you could place local calls before the expanded local calling area remain unchanged.
Q: Will my phone number or area code change as a result of the expanded local calling area?
A: Phone numbers and area codes will not change as a result of the expanded local calling area.
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Cost
Q: What is the cost for this?
A: There will be an additional cost on Bell subscriber phone bills of $0.34 (34 cents) per month for each residential line and $0.38 (38 cents) per month for each business line. These surcharges will be in place for a period of three years, and are intended to temporarily compensate all participating long distance service providers offering service in the area for revenues they will no longer receive once calls are local. Bell is responsible for billing and collecting the surcharges on behalf of all participating long distance service providers and distributing a portion to each.
Q: How long do I have to pay the surcharge?
A: The surcharge will appear on the phone bills of affected Bell customers for three years (for total amounts of $12.24 for residential subscribers and $13.68 for business subscribers over the three year period).
Q: I live in the former City of Sudbury, and it has never been long distance for me to call other areas of Greater Sudbury. Since this expanded local calling area does not represent an increase in service for me, am I required to pay the surcharge?
A: These charges will be applied to all Bell landline customers within the new local calling area.
Q: What happens with people who move into the area part way through the three-year surcharge timeframe?
A: They will pay the surcharge for the number of months remaining in the three-year timeframe, which begins on April 8, 2008.
Q: Why is the surcharge for business lines different than the surcharge for residential lines?
A: The surcharges are different because participating long distance providers will lose more revenues from business clients than from residential clients after the expanded local calling area is implemented. These surcharges are intended to help alleviate this loss of revenue.
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Additional information
Q: Where is additional information available about expanded local calling areas?
A: Additional information can be found on the Bell Canada website at www.bell.ca/elca.
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