ARCHIVED - Letter
This page has been archived on the Web
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. Archived Decisions, Notices and Orders (DNOs) remain in effect except to the extent they are amended or reversed by the Commission, a court, or the government. The text of archived information has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Changes to DNOs are published as “dashes” to the original DNO number. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats by contacting us.
File No.: 8665-C12-201303536
By e-mail
To: Distribution List (attached)
Re: Issues related to the feasibility of establishing a video relay service Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2013-155
The Commission initiated a proceeding to address the issues related to the feasibility of establishing a video relay service (VRS) in Canada on 27 March 2013. In order to assess the benefits and the feasibility of VRS, information pertaining to current IP relay and TTY relay services offered in Canada is being sought.
Accordingly, Commission staff requests responses to the questions below no later than 15 April 2013. Please note that this request for information is intended to obtain updates to the responses to the request for information sent by Commission staff on 25 May 2012. Commission staff would also like to direct your attention to Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2013-155, and particularly to the call for comments and questions posed in paragraphs 22 to 36 of the Notice.
Please contact Kay Saicheua (kay.saicheua@crtc.gc.ca) at (819) 934-1358 should you have any questions in regard to this letter.
Yours sincerely,
ORIGINAL SIGNED BY/
Nanao Kachi
Director
Social and Consumer Policy
Distribution List
Bell Canada and Bell Mobility (Bell Mobility, Virgin Mobile, Solo)
Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Partnership (including all of its mobile/wireless operations)
MTS Allstream Inc. (including all of its mobile/wireless operations)
Northwestel Inc. (including all of its mobile/wireless operations)
Saskatchewan Telecommunications (including all of its mobile/wireless operations)
TELUS Communications Company (including all of its mobile/wireless operations)
Bragg Communications Incorporated (EastLink) - (including all of its mobile/wireless operations)
Cogeco Cable Canada Inc.
Rogers Communications Inc. and Rogers Wireless Partnership (including all of its mobile/wireless operations, including Fido and Chatr)
Shaw Telecom Inc.
Vidéotron Ltd. (including all of its mobile/wireless operations)
Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc.
bell.regulatory@bell.ca; regulatory@bell.aliant.ca; iworkstation@mtsallstream.com; regulatoryaffairs@nwtel.ca; document.control@sasktel.sk.ca; regulatory.affairs@telus.com; regulatory.matters@corp.eastlink.ca; telecom.regulatory@cogeco.com; rwi_gr@rci.rogers.com; pam.dinsmore@rci.rogers.com;regulatory.aff@fidomobile.ca; regulatory@sjrb.ca; regaffairs@quebecor.com; regulatory@primustel.ca
Questions
Answer the following questions on behalf of your company. Consistent with Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-430, message relay services (MRS) shall be read to include both TTY and IP Relay. In your responses to the questions below, please provide separate information for each of the two services where applicable.
1. Does your company provide MRS directly or through a third party provider? If MRS is provided through a third party, identify the name of the party.
2. With respect to the MRS that your company provides, provide a list of the types of services options that are included in addition to the basic text-to-operator service [e.g., VCO (voice carry over), HCO (hearing carry over) etc.].
3. If your company provides MRS to LECs (local exchange carriers) via wholesale arrangements, provide a list of the LECs with which you have such agreements as of 1 March 2013.
4. With respect to the amount ($) that your company collects to provide MRS, provide the following:
- the MRS rate per month assessed to your wireline customers [business and residential] for each year from 2011 to 2012
- the MRS rate per month assessed to your mobile/wireless customers [business and residential] for each year from 2011 to 2012
- the MRS rate per month assessed to your VoIP (voice-over internet protocol) customers [business and residential] for each year from 2011 to 2012
- the MRS rate (per month, year, minutes, or other) assessed to your wholesale MRS customers for each year from 2011 to 2012
- in table format, the total revenue collected for each year from 2011 to 2012 to provide MRS. Provide a breakdown of this MRS revenue by the following segments: i) wireline customers; ii) mobile/wireless customers; iii) VoIP customers; iv) wholesale MRS revenues; and v) other revenue
| 2011 | 2012 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| per NAS rate | NAS | Total revenue | per NAS rate | NAS | Total revenue | |
| Wireline | ||||||
| Wireless | ||||||
| VoIP | ||||||
| Wholesale | ||||||
| Other | ||||||
| Total | ||||||
Note:
In the case that your company does not assess a specific MRS rate to your customers (e.g., if the MRS rate is embedded in the cost of a service), provide the MRS rate your company imputes.
5. With respect to the amount your company spends on providing MRS (either directly or through a third party), provide the total annual expenditure for each of the years from 2011 to 2012 broken down between TTY and IP relay, providing separately the capital costs, direct operating expenses and third party costs under each service. Indicate the amount, if any, funded through the deferral account. Identify any amounts which reflect partial years, and the months captured.
For the capital costs line item, provide the annual equivalent costs that would be applied over the lifespan of the asset, identifying all costing assumptions. Alternatively, provide the associated depreciation and financial expenses.
| 2011 | 2012 | |
|---|---|---|
| TTY | ||
| Capital costs | ||
| AEC of capital | ||
| Direct Operating Expenses | ||
| Third party costs | ||
| Total Annual TTY Costs | ||
| IPRS | ||
| Capital costs | ||
| AEC of capital | ||
| Direct Operating Expenses | ||
| Third party costs | ||
| Total Annual IPRS Costs | ||
| Total Annual MRS (TTY+IPRS) costs |
6. Provide the aggregate statistics on call data, as per the table provided below, differentiating between IP relay and TTY traffic for each of the years 2011 to 2012.
| Aggregate Call data | Emergency Calls | Retail vs. Wholesale | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total no. of incoming calls | Total no. of calls relayed | Total number of minutes of conversation relayed | No. of users | Ave call duration | Ave calls per user | No of 911 calls relayed | Ave. 911 call duration | Total Conversation Minutes - Retail customers | Total Conversation Minutes - Wholesale (customers of other TSPs) |
| 2011 | ||||||||||
| 2012 | ||||||||||
7. Provide the average annual statistics on the distribution of calls by (i) time of day and; (ii) by the day of the week for IP relay and TTY separately. Under each scenario, distinguish between residential and business traffic (based on call origin).
8. List the requirements that need to be met for consumers to register for IP Relay. Indicate whether an Internet and/or home phone service subscription is required. Identify and describe the most basic package(s) that consumers can subscribe to in order to ensure reliable access to these services. In your description, provide the stand-alone price of these subscriptions and any additional fees and taxes that would apply.
9. The majority of VRS vendors specify recommended upload / download speeds ranging from 256 kbps up/down to 1.5 Mbps up/down. Identify and describe the most basic package that consumers can subscribe to in order to ensure reliable access to these services given the minimum requirement of: (i) 256 kbps up/down is met; and (ii) 1.5 Mbps up/down is met. In your description, provide the amount of data included, the stand-alone price of these subscriptions, and any additional fees and taxes that would apply.
- Date modified: