ARCHIVED - Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2015-369

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Ottawa, 12 August 2015

File number: 8663-C12-201508392

Show cause proceeding and call for comments

Deadline for submission of interventions: 21 September 2015

[Submit an intervention or view related documents]

Application of the 9-1-1 regulatory obligations directly to non-carriers

The Commission initiates a proceeding for parties to show cause why the existing 9-1-1 obligations should not directly apply to non-carriers that provide local exchange, wireless voice, local voice over Internet Protocol, or payphone services. The Commission also invites comments on whether the underlying carriers should continue to be subject to the Commission’s requirement that they apply the 9-1-1 obligations to non-carriers through their contractual arrangements with the non-carriers.

Introduction

  1. Effective access to emergency services is critical to the health and safety of citizens, and is an important part of the Commission’s role to ensure that Canadians have access to a world-class communication system. Over the years, the Commission has established policies to contribute to the availability of reliable and effective access to 9-1-1 services in Canada.
  2. The Commission has mandated telecommunications service providers (TSPs) to provide their customers with 9-1-1 service wherever provincial/territorial and municipal governments have established specialized 9-1-1 call centres known as public safety answering points (PSAPs). As a result, an estimated 96% of Canada’s population currently has access to either Basic 9-1-1 or Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) serviceFootnote 1 through wireline, wireless, and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services.
  3. Until recently, while the Commission had the authority under the Telecommunications Act (the Act) to impose conditions on the offering and provision of telecommunications services by Canadian carriers,Footnote 2 the Commission did not have the authority to directly impose these conditions on non-carriers, that is, providers other than Canadian carriers (also known as resellers).Footnote 3 Instead, where it was considered necessary, the Commission directed the underlying carriers that provide services to non-carriers to ensure through contractual arrangements that the non-carriers were subject to these conditions.Footnote 4

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2

  1. As a result of the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2,Footnote 5 the Act was amended to include new section 24.1, which reads as follows:
    24.1 The offering and provision of any telecommunications service by any person other than a Canadian carrier are subject to any conditions imposed by the Commission, including those relating to
    1. service terms and conditions in contracts with users of telecommunications services;
    2. protection of the privacy of those users;
    3. access to emergency services; and
    4. access to telecommunications services by persons with disabilities.
  2. Under this new section, the Commission now has the power to impose directly on non-carriers conditions related to the offering and provision of telecommunications services, including the requirement for non-carriers to comply with the series of obligations related to 9-1-1 services, referred to hereafter as the 9-1-1 obligations. These obligations would apply to all non-carriers presently in operation, and to those that commence operations in the future.
  3. Further, the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2 has given the Commission the power to impose compliance measures, for example, mandatory orders and administrative monetary penalties, directly on non-carriers to ensure their compliance with the 9-1-1 obligations.
  4. For the purpose of this proceeding, “non-carrier” refers to any person other than a Canadian carrier, as mentioned in new section 24.1 of the Act, that provides local exchange, wireless voice, local VoIP, or payphone services in Canada.

9-1-1 obligations for non-carriers

  1. All non-carriers must provide 9-1-1 service to their end-customers where a local PSAP has been established. The type of 9-1-1 service that Canadians can receive depends on the type of telephone service being used by the end-customer and whether the end-customer is in an area that has Basic 9-1-1 or E9-1-1. Unless otherwise noted by the Commission, the level of 9-1-1 service offered (either Basic 9-1-1 or E9-1-1) must be equivalent to the most advanced form of 9-1-1 service available in the area being served.
  2. The above-mentioned 9-1-1 obligations are supplemented by the main 9-1-1 obligations listed in the Appendix.Footnote 6 Non-carriers are also required to (i) obtain a Basic International Telecommunications Services licence if they carry telecommunications traffic between Canada and another country, (ii) register with the Commission as a TSP,Footnote 7 and (iii) file data with the Commission using the appropriate Data Collection Forms.Footnote 8

Show cause proceeding and call for comments

  1. In light of the above, the Commission hereby initiates a proceeding for parties to show cause why the existing 9-1-1 obligations should not directly apply to non-carriers.
  2. In addition, the Commission invites comments on whether the underlying carriers should continue to be subject to the Commission’s requirement that they apply the 9-1-1 obligations to non-carriers through their contractual arrangements with the non-carriers.

Procedure

  1. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure (the Rules of Procedure) apply to this proceeding. The Rules of Procedure set out, among other things, the rules for the content, format, filing, and service of interventions, replies, and requests for information; the procedure for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure; and the conduct of public hearings, where applicable. Accordingly, the procedure set out below must be read in conjunction with the Rules of Procedure and their accompanying documents, which can be found on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca under “Statutes and Regulations.” The Guidelines on the CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure, as set out in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-959, provide information to help interested persons and parties understand the Rules of Procedure so that they can more effectively participate in Commission proceedings.
  2. All non-carriers and all Canadian carriers are made parties to this proceeding. Parties may file interventions with the Commission regarding the above-noted issues by 21 September 2015.
  3. Interested persons who wish to become parties to this proceeding must file an intervention with the Commission regarding the above-noted issues, by 21 September 2015. The intervention must be filed in accordance with section 26 of the Rules of Procedure.
  4. Parties are permitted to coordinate, organize, and file, in a single submission, interventions by other interested persons who share their position. Information on how to file this type of submission, known as a joint supporting intervention, as well as a template for the accompanying cover letter to be filed by parties, can be found in Telecom Information Bulletin 2011-693.
  5. All parties who filed interventions may file replies to interventions with the Commission by 6 October 2015. Due to the large number of parties to this proceeding, parties are not required to serve a copy of their replies on other parties. Parties are to consult the Commission’s website to determine who has filed interventions for the purpose of exercising their right of reply.
  6. The Commission encourages interested persons and parties to monitor the record of this proceeding, available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca, for additional information that they may find useful when preparing their submissions.
  7. Submissions longer than five pages should include a summary. Each paragraph of all submissions should be numbered, and the line ***End of document*** should follow the last paragraph. This will help the Commission verify that the document has not been damaged during electronic transmission.
  8. Pursuant to Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2015-242, the Commission expects incorporated entities and associations, and encourages all Canadians, to file submissions for Commission proceedings in accessible formats (for example, text-based file formats that enable text to be enlarged or modified, or read by screen readers). To provide assistance in this regard, the Commission has posted on its website guidelines for preparing documents in accessible formats.
  9. Submissions must be filed by sending them to the Secretary General of the Commission using only one of the following means:

by completing the
[Intervention form]

or

by mail to
CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2

or

by fax to
819-994-0218

  1. Parties who send documents electronically must ensure that they will be able to prove, upon Commission request, that filing of a particular document was completed. Accordingly, parties must keep proof of the sending and receipt of each document for 180 days after the date on which the document is filed. The Commission advises parties who file documents by electronic means to exercise caution when using email for the filing of such documents, as it may be difficult to establish that filing has occurred.
  2. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, a document must be received by the Commission and all relevant parties by 5 p.m. Vancouver time (8 p.m. Ottawa time) on the date it is due. Parties are responsible for ensuring the timely delivery of their submissions and will not be notified if their submissions are received after the deadline. Late submissions, including those due to postal delays, will not be considered by the Commission and will not be made part of the public record.
  3. The Commission will not formally acknowledge submissions. It will, however, fully consider all submissions, which will form part of the public record of the proceeding, provided that the procedure for filing set out above has been followed.

Important notice

  1. All information that parties provide as part of this public process, except information designated confidential, whether sent by postal mail, facsimile, email, or through the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca, becomes part of a publicly accessible file and will be posted on the Commission’s website. This includes all personal information, such as full names, email addresses, postal/street addresses, and telephone and facsimile numbers.
  2. The personal information that parties provide will be used and may be disclosed for the purpose for which the information was obtained or compiled by the Commission, or for a use consistent with that purpose.
  3. Documents received electronically or otherwise will be posted on the Commission’s website in their entirety exactly as received, including any personal information contained therein, in the official language and format in which they are received. Documents not received electronically will be available in PDF format.
  4. The information that parties provide to the Commission as part of this public process is entered into an unsearchable database dedicated to this specific public process. This database is accessible only from the web page of this particular public process. As a result, a general search of the Commission’s website with the help of either its search engine or a third-party search engine will not provide access to the information that was provided as part of this public process.

Availability of documents

  1. Electronic versions of the interventions and other documents referred to in this notice are available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca by using the file number provided at the beginning of this notice or by visiting the “Participate” section of the Commission’s website, selecting “Submit Ideas and Comments,” then selecting “our open processes.” Documents can then be accessed by clicking on the links in the “Subject” and “Related Documents” columns associated with this particular notice.
  2. Documents are also available from Commission offices, upon request, during normal business hours.

Commission offices

Toll-free telephone: 1-877-249-2782
Toll-free TDD: 1-877-909-2782

Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
Central Building
1 Promenade du Portage, Room 206
Gatineau, Quebec J8X 4B1
Tel.: 819-997-2429
Fax: 819-994-0218

Regional offices

Nova Scotia

Metropolitan Place
99 Wyse Road, Suite 1410
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B3A 4S5
Tel.: 902-426-7997
Fax: 902-426-2721

Quebec

505 De Maisonneuve Boulevard West, Suite 205
Montréal, Quebec H3A 3C2
Tel.: 514-283-6607

Ontario

55 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1M2
Tel.: 416-952-9096

Manitoba

360 Main Street, Suite 970
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3Z3
Tel.: 204-983-6306
Fax: 204-983-6317

Saskatchewan

1975 Scarth Street, Suite 403
Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 2H1
Tel.: 306-780-3422
Fax: 306-780-3319

Alberta

220 ‒ 4th Avenue Southeast, Suite 574
Calgary, Alberta T2G 4X3
Tel.: 403-292-6660
Fax: 403-292-6686

British Columbia

858 Beatty Street, Suite 290
Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 1C1
Tel.: 604-666-2111
Fax: 604-666-8322

Secretary General

Related documents

Appendix to Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2015-369

Main 9-1-1 obligations applicable to non-carriers

Any person offering or providing the following telecommunications services who is not a Canadian carrier must provide 9-1-1 services to its end-customers where a local PSAP has been established, and must abide by the obligations listed below. The 9-1-1 services must be the same as those provided by the PSAP (e.g. E9-1-1 or, where that is not available, Basic 9-1-1), except as noted below.

Local exchange services

Wireless voice services

Local VoIP services

Fixed/native local VoIP services
Fixed/non-native and nomadic local VoIP services

Payphone services

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Basic 9-1-1 service enables callers to be connected to call takers in PSAPs, who dispatch the appropriate emergency responders. E9-1-1 service includes Basic 9-1-1, but also automatically provides 9-1-1 call takers with the telephone number and location of the caller.

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Footnote 2

The Commission has the authority to impose conditions on any Canadian carrier that offers telecommunications services to potential customers, or that provides telecommunications services to customers.

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Footnote 3

A reseller of telecommunications services sells or leases a telecommunications service provided by a Canadian carrier to the reseller on a wholesale basis.

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Footnote 4

For example, in Telecom Decision 97-8, the Commission noted that resellers would meet certain of the service requirements that the Commission imposes on local exchange carriers (LECs), such as 9-1-1-related obligations, by virtue of the underlying LECs’ obligations. In Telecom Decision 2005-21, the Commission required local VoIP service providers to provide 9-1-1 service and imposed related obligations on them. In Telecom Decision 2012-137, the Commission modified a contractual condition for the service contracts of Canadian carriers, such that local VoIP service providers, and any or all of their wholesale customers and subordinate wholesale customers, must comply with the 9-1-1 obligations applicable to local VoIP service providers.

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Footnote 5

This was originally Bill C-43, which received royal assent on 16 December 2014.

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Footnote 6

Many other 9-1-1 obligations related to the technical implementation of 9-1-1 services are imposed on non-carriers and are set out in Commission-approved reports from the Emergency Services Working Group.

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Footnote 7

Telecom Decision 95-2 states that all resellers and sharing groups must register with the Commission, regardless of the services being resold, with the exception of resellers that resell only toll services and sharing groups that share only toll services.

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Footnote 8

Further information on the Commission’s requirements for the industry to file data with the Commission can be found by clicking this link.

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