Reducing paperwork

The CRTC has approved changes to the way the National Contribution Fund operates, reducing some of the paperwork required for smaller competitive phone companies.

The Canadian Portable Contribution Consortium (CPCC) had proposed raising the contribution eligible revenue threshold for requiring audited statements to $100M (from the current $50M). Also, all companies that currently receive a local phone subsidy are required to provide audited figures; CPCC proposed requiring audits only if the level of subsidy will exceed $0.5M in a given year. Companies that do not exceed the audit thresholds are only required to file an affidavit attesting to the accuracy of their figures.

Finally, the CPCC has incorporated standardized audit requirements by reference to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), thereby ensuring that its requirements are kept consistent with CICA on an ongoing basis, rather than needing future amendments to be approved by the CRTC.

Telecom Decision CRTC 2011-529 includes a copy of the complete procedures guide. The changes provide welcome relief to the costs of regulatory compliance.