Telcos object to Industry Department’s ‘lawful intercept’ proposal for 700 MHz band

Canada’s wireless carriers and the national organization that represents them are raising objections to Industry Canada’s efforts to impose “lawful intercept” requirements on 700 MHz wireless networks as broader proposals for controversial lawful access legislation remain on hold in Parliament. In a notice of consultation posted on Industry Canada’s website in April, the department proposed changing the intercept requirements for wireless networks that will use the coveted 700 MHz band the department intends to licence in an auction next year. Those proposed changes would require spectrum licence winners to maintain the capability to intercept communications on any “interconnected radio-based transmission facility.” That would be an expansion from the existing licence conditions on other spectrum bands that have required carriers to be capable of intercepting communications over “circuit-switched voice telephony systems.” In comments filed with the department June 22, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), representing small wireless carriers and Canada’s incumbents, said it would be inappropriate for the department to expand lawful intercept rules through the conditions on spectrum licences while the federal government considers lawful access legislation in the form of Bill C-30. The CWTA said solicitor general standards that establish carriers’ lawful intercept obligations currently require carriers to provide law enforcement authorities with access to a wide range of telecommunications and associated data by request. The association said the proposed new wording would expand its members’ lawful intercept obligations beyond voice communications, text messages and faxes to encompass mobile broadband connections and other communications services. “CWTA notes that there has been no enabling legislation passed by Parliament that would require such services be intercepted, and submits that it is inappropriate for the Department to impose such requirements via a COL —particularly at a time when the Government is engaged in a legislative process covering the lawful access issue at a broader level,” the association wrote. “The COL should reflect the legislative requirements that exist at the time the licences are issued, and not be crafted in anticipation of legislative requirements that may or may not be in force at some point in the future.” Bill C-30, the lawful access bill formally entitled the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act, was tabled in the House on Feb. 14 after similar bills died on the order paper due to elections or prorogations under the Conservative government. As proposed, the bill would require mobile and Internet providers to disclose customer information without court-ordered warrants—such as names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Internet protocol addresses, and device identification numbers—as requested by law enforcement authorities. Critics have said it is a “surveillance bill” that would give appointed inspectors spot access to telcos’ data centres. On Feb. 15, Government House Leader Peter Van Loan responded to privacy concerns by saying the bill will be sent to a House committee for study before second reading, providing room to make significant changes to it. The bill was not scheduled for committee study by the time the House rose for summer on June 22. “This proposed change to the COL , it adds another moving piece to an already complicated discussion about what the lawful access laws are going to be and who is going to pay for them,” Jim Patrick, the CWTA’s senior vice-president, said in a phone interview. Patrick said the Department of Public Safety, which manages the solicitor general standards, should consult with industry stakeholders to determine any new lawful intercept requirements for the wireless industry after Parliament passes the proposed lawful access bill. “These things need to happen in order,” he said. “Conditions of licence should reflect existing legislation and existing regulations. They shouldn’t try to predict what legislation or regulations might look like in the future.” In similar comments filed with the department, wireless companies stated their opposition to the proposed new licence conditions, including BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Corp., Globalive Wireless Management Corp., MTS Allstream Inc. and Quebecor Media Inc. Carriers’ objections to lawful intercept rules are in part due to financial concerns, The Wire Report reported in February. Bell and Rogers said they should not have to adopt new intercept technologies that are not codified through the solicitor general standards, which would help make the necessary equipment available. “In this regard, development of the Solicitor General standards through an accredited industry standards body would … facilitate the use of commercially available off-the-shelf equipment for lawful intercept,” Bell wrote. Only one carrier, northern territories-based SSi Micro Ltd., said it supports the proposed new requirement. Chris Parsons, a network expert and doctoral candidate at the University of Victoria who is studying lawful access laws in jurisdictions around the world, said the proposed regulatory change will probably impact a large swath of the country’s mobile technologies. Mobile carriers say they plan to use the 700 MHz band to expand fourth-generation, LTE wireless services. “It’s not just mobile phones that are going to be impacted,” he said, adding that USB Internet sticks will also operate on the 700 MHz band, as well as computers tethered through mobile devices. “I would be very interested to know, under this, whether that would mean that the data communications from your computer are consequently subject to the solicitor general’s standards,” he said. “The worry is that this isn’t just enabling for lawful access, but this is actually another way of getting a lot of lawful access power through the gate without going through Parliament, without going through the public … It smells as though they might be trying to go through a back door,” Parsons said. In an emailed statement to The Wire Report, Michel Cimpaye, a spokesman for Industry Canada, said this “is inaccurate.” “The proposed changes are to update a requirement that has been on spectrum licences since 1996 in order to reflect current technologies and are part of an open and transparent public process.The proposed regulations reflect existing laws,” Cimpaye said. “In the future, the Department may consider proposing similar wording changes to the Lawful Intercept condition for licences in other bands,” he said, adding that consultations with licence holders would take place before proposing further changes. Cimpaye said the proposed regulatory change reflects an expectation that wireless networks operating on the 700 MHz band will not use old, circuit-switched technology, but newer, packet-switched technology. “Industry Canada has responsibility for establishing conditions of licence based on legislation in place today,” he wrote. “Should the Solicitor General make changes to the Standards or should Parliament enact new legislation, Industry Canada would reassess the implications of that change at that time.” Jessica Slack, a spokeswoman for the Public Safety Department, said in an emailed statement that the department has been working with Industry Canada "since 1995 with respect to the lawful interception condition of licence." She said telecom companies "are currently moving away from ‘circuit-switched’ networks towards newer, state-of-the-art technologies, which are likely not circuit-switched. Therefore, as technologies advance, so too must the tools that regulate them." Slack said it is important that laws and measures "that protect the safety and security of Canadians are relevant and up-to-date." nkyonka@thewirereport.ca --- CORRECTION: Jim Patrick is no longer vice-president of government affairs at CWTA. His correct title is senior vice-president.

Telcos object to Industry Department’s ‘lawful intercept’ proposal for 700 MHz band

News | July 9, 2012

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Telcos object to Industry Department’s ‘lawful intercept’ proposal for 700 MHz band

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