CRTC should take charge in next-generation 911 rollout, regulator hears

GATINEAU, Que. — The CRTC should take a leading role — at least temporarily — in co-ordinating the development of next-generation 911 services, the regulator heard Monday as it kicked off a week-long hearing into the future of the emergency call system. Making the transition to an environment where 911 call-takers, or public safety answering points (PSAPs), can receive communication other than voice (such as text, picture and video messages) needs outside guidance, interveners said. A national consortium, under the auspices of the CRTC, would “be instrumental for guiding the coordination, oversight, and funding challenges” of implementing a next-generation 911 system, according to the NG91-1-1 Coalition of the Willing, a group of 911 experts from across Canada volunteering to work on these issues. “Whether you have one or you have a combination of many networks that all interconnect together, there’s a national entity that kind of guides the roll out of these different networks and how you connect to it and when you can on-board to the network…for lack of a better term,” Diane Pelletier, coalition chairwoman, told the five-member panel. “And you have to meet certain standards and criteria and then you can be part of the next-gen 911 network — we would argue that a national entity would be able to help guide that.“ Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais noted the CRTC could be asked to take ownership of something “that may not be ours to own” and that the regulator may not be equipped for or have jurisdiction over. In his opening address, Blais noted that right now, the “CRTC’s role is to provide regulatory oversight of the telecommunications service providers’ networks and the specialized 911 networks. Over time, the CRTC has established a number of measures to ensure that telecommunications networks provide reliable and effective access to 911 services in Canada.” “We don’t want you to own it, either,” Chris Kellett, a member of the coalition and chair of the emergency services working group, responded. “We do want your help in co-ordinating for a period of time… This is a starting script.” The coalition’s proposal was supported by fellow interveners from Calgary 9-1-1 and the Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group (CITIG), who also appeared in front of the panel Monday. However, Telus Corp., while in favour of the CRTC retaining regulatory oversight, drew the line at a new consortium to oversee things — especially funding. Instead, the CRTC should continue its relationship with its current emergency services working group. “This model has worked well to date and there is no reason to develop an additional, more complex form of administration,” said Eric Edora, Telus’ director of regulatory affairs. Shaw Communications Inc. took a different stance, saying there should be a wholly separate national administrator for next-generation 911 that, paired with CRTC oversight, “will ensure all parties and the public have visibility into the transition and new framework,” Paul Cowling, Shaw’s vice-president of legal and regulatory affairs, told the panel. Cowling later expanded, saying that there is a great deal of work that needs to be done, in terms of laying out timelines and exploring the cost of the transition. “Without a centralized body that has a dedicated staff, unlike the today, we’re concerned it may not get done in the most efficient way possible,” he said. Shaw also diverged from the day’s other witnesses on whether the status quo where the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) — incumbent telcos such as Telus and BCE Inc. — are in control should also remain in the switch to an Internet protocol (IP)-based 911 network. Since the legacy 911 system was obsolete, “we do not think it would be in the public interest to simply renew their mandate through this proceeding,” Cowling said. Under the cableco’s proposal, the national administrator would lead a competitive bidding process to pick the NG911 operator, which flew in the face of what the panel heard from the day’s other groups, who all said incumbent telcos should remain at the reins. Shaw did note that through a competitive process, an ILEC could ultimately end up as the preferred candidate. “ILECs who currently operate 911 core networks have invaluable network experience,” said Edora. “They also have developed tremendous working relationships with the PSAPs and and their respective areas.” “This capability needs to be ubiquitous in Canada, as a public good, such that all communities have access, regardless of the subscriber base in any particular area of the network providers,” said Magni Magnason, acting deputy commander of technical services for Calgary 9-1-1, a service dispatch centre for the Alberta city and surrounding area. It’s also not something that should be focused on the bottom line, Pelletier said, adding that it’s not that it can’t be about competition, “but it can’t be all about who can do it in the most-economical fashion. It has to take into consideration the impacts to the downstream agencies — to the public safety answering points, to the responders and then to the citizens in the end.” All of Monday’s witnesses agreed on the necessity of having one national standard, taking a cue from the United States where implementation of upgraded 911 services was put out to tender. “They’ll get back a bid that essentially has 10 different suppliers with a co-ordinating supplier and from the perspective of implementation issues, it’s a nightmare,” Kellett said. “Quite plain and simple, the whole idea and I’ll put it simply, is one neck to choke. One throat to choke is really important from the perspective that this needs to be as straightforward as possible with people that know the business.” On the issue of costs, Telus suggested that funding be drawn from general tax revenues or through the same process as the National Contribution Fund, collecting money from carriers’ voice and Internet customers. Shaw agreed with the idea of federal funding from the tax base, but said if that wasn’t possible, it supported “a fee charged to each based on working telephone numbers capable of placing an outbound emergency call,” Esther Snow, director of regulatory affairs, said. The coalition said it preferred CRTC-approved tariffs, with funding facilitated by the new legislation. — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

CRTC should take charge in next-generation 911 rollout, regulator hears

News | January 16, 2017

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CRTC should take charge in next-generation 911 rollout, regulator hears

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