Public Consultation for a SSM- Airport Cell Site

Author's Update: I believe that in response to public feedback Bell is moving the proposed Nokomis Beach Road tower location to the area of the Pointe de Chênes campground. (26 Oct 11)

This is a follow-up to my blog of 14 Aug under the heading Is SSM-Airport Deferral Account a Go? concerning the public consultation for Bell Mobility (Bell) cell tower sites in the Sault Ste Marie area.

I attended the meeting held at the Water Tower Inn in the Sault on 24 Aug 11. Unlike the sparse attendance at the Bell public consultation for the Carpin Beach Rd site, nearly two dozen people were in attendance. The audience was a cross section of interested citizens and what I would refer to as resource personnel representatives such as a City Councillor, City Planning staff, Airport Management/Tech staff and personnel from the aviation sector.
Bell had three potential sites on the agenda for discussion – Algoma University Parking Lot, Old Garden River Road and Nokomis Beach Road.
No one in attendance expressed concerns about the first two sites. All of the open discussion centred on the Nokomis Beach site.
While the speakers declared a desire to obtain cellular and broadband (high speed) Internet service, they expressed concern about the actual site of the tower. I noted the following principal concerns as summarized below:

1. A desire for more details about the site selection process, the consultation process and the timelines involved.
2. An “industrial” structure located in a residential area and the potential for adverse impact on the aesthetics of the semi-rural residential area and the possible negative impact on real estate values;
3. The possibility of light pollution if beacon lighting (White strobe or flashing red) became a requirement for the tower;
4. The creation of another potential hazard to aviation in the area.

The Bell representative explained the rationale as to how and why the particular site was selected. Computer modelling and on the ground survey indicated the site offered the optimum location for area coverage and the prevention of spill over of the radio signal across the international border. He stated that Bell was no longer deploying wireline (DSL or Fibre to the Home) broadband (high speed) Internet service outside high density, major urban areas.
Some attendees suggested a number of alternate locations near the site area that they deemed to be more acceptable. Most involved the use of airport property either at ground level in the areas of the Nokomis Beach/Pointe de Chênes Road or use of the airport water tower as a support structure.
The Bell representative made arrangements to meet with the airport management to discuss possible airport locations later in the week before he returned to his office in Mississauga .
The Bell representative indicated his report to management will identify the concerns raised by the attendees. He will also meet with the network engineering staff to review the impact of using alternate locations identified as a result of his consultations . He indicated that at times the site selection and subsequent consultations becomes reiterative so the possibility of further meetings in still on the table.
No firm plans or dates for follow-up discussions were set.
The impact this need to reassess the site location will have on the roll-out of Deferral Account broadband (high speed) Internet in the SSM –Airport area is unknown at this time. The Bell representative did indicate that research for an another site to cover the Pointe Louise and the Pointe aux Pins areas was on going.
Readers interested in finding out more about the tower siting process regulations  and the public consultation process are referred to the Spectrum Branch of Industry Canada site .

COWs Move to Martha’s Vineyard

It seems that the residents of Red Rock and selected areas of St. Joseph Island are not the only people who do not have full time cellular coverage. The good folks of Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts, USA usually have limited or no cell service either.

However, according to an article in the NY Times, this all changes in July and August each year when Verizon installs a couple of COWs – Cell On Wheels ⁽¹⁾ – to coincide with President Obama’s holiday on the island.

AT&T hardware does not work on the technically incompatible Verizon network provided by the COWs. Not everyone is happy with the difference in hardware. (At one time AT&T was the sole source for cell enabled Apple iPhones and many legacy users remain.)  This is the similar to the challenge faced by Bell customers trying to access the Tbaytel HSPA network along the Hwy 17 north corridor .

As one might expect, many island residents do not want or appreciate the cell service while others welcome the convenience

Come September, the COWs will head back to the barn and Martha Vineyard will revert to its normal bucolic self.

(1) Cell on Wheels Often referred to as a COW, it is a portable base station, usually a large truck or a van that is used to provide temporary wireless network capacity. COWs are typically used during special events where a larger number of people will converge on one area, or in disaster areas if the base station has been damaged. The COW vehicle will consist of a cellular tower and all the support equipment  needed to provide mobile wireless communications.

Tbaytel RIF Project for Algoma Complete

The Algoma District portion of the 4 year Tbaytel Regional In-Fill (RIF) project is now complete. Tbaytel activated the final Canopy fixed wireless equipment at the Goulais (Buttermilk) site on August 15, 2011.

Within the Algoma District, the RIF project resulted in the installation of new cell sites at Sanigra Lake, Michipicoten, Goulais River and Heyden as well as the installation of Canopy fixed wireless broadband (high speed Internet) hardware on the cell sites at Hawke Junction, Batchawana, Goulais River, Bellevue, Heyden and Searchmont.

The RIF project is a separate entity from the agreement between Tbaytel and Rogers to build a 3G/4G HSPA network overlay using the existing Tbaytel CDMA facilities including the new RIF sites. This project remains ongoing with number of sites still scheduled for upgrade.

Background

The RIF project started on May 11, 2007 when the North West Ontario Innovation Centre (NWOIC) issued a public Request for Expression of Interest (EOI). ADnet championed the Algoma District interests throughout the project’s duration. The EOI conformed to the NOHFC guidelines for cellular coverage in effect at the time which stated King’s Highways in the area were the targeted coverage area.

The EOI asked interested vendors to submit outline proposals to provide increased cellular coverage along the Hwy 17 corridor from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie and broadband (high speed Internet) with a minimum of 1.5 mbps download[1] capability at designated locales[2] along the same corridor.

After a due diligence review which included input from ADnet, the NWOIC selected Tbaytel as the vendor of choice and submitted funding proposals to NOHFC and FedNor for financial backing to offset some of the project’s total $6.3 million cost.

NOFHC came on board the project on September 04, 2007 when they announced funding in the amount of $3.4 million conditional upon a Tbaytel contribution of $2.4 million and a FedNor contribution of $500 thousand. FedNor finally joined the project in the summer of 2008. The project total of $6.3 million broke down into $5.2 million for cellular and $1.1 million for broadband (high speed Internet).

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[1] This was the speed the CRTC/FedNor/NOHFC used at the time to define broadband (high speed) Internet. It is now generally accepted that the target speed should be 4 Mbps download. The systems installed under the RIF have this capability.

[2] The principal criteria were population density and broadband (high speed) Internet alternatives.

Is SSM-Airport Deferral Account a Go?

As first reported in my 20 May 11 blog, Bell is moving ahead with building new towers and associated cell sites in the SSM -Airport Deferral Account area. This timeline conforms to the schedule previous published which shows construction start in 2011 for operation in 2012.

As required by federal regulations for new tower construction, Bell Mobility posted a notice of public consultation in the 13 Aug 11 edition of the Sault Star for a tower in the Nokomis Beach area of SSM .
 
The new Nokomis Beach location, like the previously reviewed Carpin Beach Rd. location, is clearly within the SSM-Airport Deferral Account area. Bell appears to be going ahead with the projects in spite of fact the appeal by Rogers to the Governor-in-Council is still pending and the counter legal appeal by Bell is not scheduled to be heard until mid-September 2011.

As a reminder,  the Deferral Account program is 3G/4G HSPA based. While the original Bell submission to and approved by the CRTC  had a special tariff provision, it is unknown if the appeal process will impact on the special tariff plans.

Bell also announced two other towers in the SSM area in the same edition of the Sault Star.  These are not Deferral Account sites.

Goulais (Buttermilk) Canopy Site Update as of 12 Aug 11

I received written confirmation that the Goulais (Buttermilk) Canopy service will be launched on Monday, 15 Aug 11.

This means all three components of the site – 2/2.5 CDMA, 3G/4G HSPA, and Canopy fixed wireless broadband – will be operational.

Speed Test Sites and Results – 05 Aug 11

Speed Test Sites

A number of people have asked about how to test the speed of their broadband (high speed) Internet connection. The following lists are a few sites that offer a speed test service.

Bell Speed Check - http://206.47.199.107/
Cogeco Speed Test (Burlington, ON) - http://speedtest.cogeco.net
Ontera Speed Test - https://www.ontera.net/myontera/en/bandwidthtest.html
Primus Speed Test(Etobioke, ON) - http://speedtest.primus.ca
Rogers Speed Test - Website link is here
SaskTel Internet Speed Test (Regina, SK) - http://www.sasktel.com/internet/speedtest/index.html
Shaw Speed Test (Sooke, BC) - http://speedtest.shaw.ca
Speed Test Net - http://www.speedtest.net/
Tbaytel Sped Test - http://speedtest.tbaytel.net/
Test My Net - http://testmy.net/
Vianet Speed Test - http://www.vianet.ca/speedtest.php
Videotron Internet Speed Test (Montreal, PQ) - http://testvitesse.videotron.ca/index-en.html

Multi-Speed Test Sites Test

It is important to remember that the results of the speed test only indicate the statistics at the time of the test. It is highly unlikely that the results will be the same the next. To illustrate this point I conducted tests between 11:30 and 12:10 AM on Thursday, 04 Aug 11.

I used a Toshiba laptop with a wireless connection to a Rogers data hub which was receiving a signal by means of an all house antenna connected through a 50 dB amp to an external Yagi aimed at the Bellevue tower. I did three tests as quickly as possible at each test site. Notice the wide range of results both at each site and amongst the sites. You should also note the theoretical best speed for my connection is 7 Mbps download.

Test Site	Ping in ms	Download in Mbps	Upload in Mbps
Bell	N/A*	3.37	1.09
	N/A	3.30	1.85
	N/A	3.14	2.57
Cogeco	N/A	2.40	2.5
	N/A	2.80	1.2
	N/A	2.40	1.5
Ontera	N/A	1.03	N/A
	N/A	1.04	N/A
	N/A	1.07	N/A
Primus	119	1.65	.660
	119	2.01	1.75
	115	2.46	1.83
Rogers	N/A	2.57	3.44
	N/A	2.68	2.36
	N/A	3.03	3.28
SaskTel	N/A	2.14	0.603
	N/A	2.36	0.896
	N/A	2.06	1.1
Shaw	259	2.61	0.68
	250	2.49	0.64
	259	2.52	,490
Speed Test Net	103	2.17	1.15
	104	2.14	0.75
	105	3.59	0.87
Tbaytel	148	2.80	1.8
	145	1.93	1.15
	146	3.75	0.88
Test My Net	N/A	1.7	0.88
	N/A	3.30	**
	N/A	2.0	**
Vianet	N/A	2.54	1.29
	N/A	4.39	1.03
	N/A	2.82	1.65
Videotron	222	1.2	1.07
	108	2.76	0.867
	103	3.01	1.12

* Site does not provide ping times
**Stopped Working

Single Speed Test Site Multi-location

Speed Test Net allows you to pick a specific server for each test. Using this option I tested a few Canadian and US locations. Again there was a large range of results.

Location	Ping in ms	Download in Mbps	Upload in Mbps
Clifton, ON	104	2.87	.92
Kitchener, ON	105	2.60	1.93
Kanata, ON	90	3.02	.92
Montreal, PQ	117	3.65	2.57
Halifax, NS	216	3.42	2.26
Winnipeg, MB	109	3.64	2.20
St. Johns, NL	129	3.68	3.26
Saskatoon, SK	280	1.32	1.33
Yellowknife	168	4.13	1.06
Houston, TX	156	2.90	2.48
Houghton, MI	193	3.76	3.27

North Sault Tbaytel Outlet Situation Clarified – 05 Aug 11

The circumstance surrounding a local Sault Ste Marie Tbaytel outlet is now clarified. 
For business reasons, the authorized Tbaytel dealer in Wawa – The Brick – must be the agent of record for all Tbaytel transactions for service in the North Sault area.
However, the Wawa outlet can use The Brick associate store in Sault Ste. Marie as a “pick-up” point.  This means a user may either contact the Wawa store directly and the items can be picked up in the Sault Ste Marie outlet, or a user may go the local The Brick outlet to place an order or pick-up hardware. The Sault store keeps a number of data hubs available for immediate pick-up and can have handsets, except Apple iPhones, available within 24 hours.
The authorized Wawa agency and consequently the Sault Ste Marie “pick-up” point can only provide hardware that will be “homed” to the Tbaytel network. Therefore the user must have a home or service address that indicates the primary connection to the network will be through a Tbaytel tower.  For all practical purposes, this means the user must live or have business address north of the Sixth Line/ Hwy 17 intersection in the Sault.
All financial aspects will be in accordance with the Tbaytel pricing plans and policies. Details are available at the general Tbaytel website or the 3G/4G HSPA page.
The above does not impact on the ability of Tbaytel hardware to have full access to the Rogers network when the user is away from the primary address.
Sault Ste. Marie
11 WHITE OAK DRIVE EAST
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario P6B 4J7
(705) 759-5083 
Wawa
41 BROADWAY AVENUE
WAWA, Ontario P0S 1K0
(705) 856-4252
1-(800) 270-9365
A complete list of Tbaytel agents can be seen here.

CRTC Annual Telecommunications Monitoring Report Covering 2010

The CRTC issued their annual Telecommunications Monitoring Report for 2010 in July 2011. The following extract from the executive summary is published without comment. The full summary is available at this link and the download of the whole report is available at this link.

Telecommunications

Growth in the telecommunications industry was driven by newer services, including broadband Internet services and wireless services.

Broadband Internet

The CRTC’s report found that 77% of the 13.4 million households in Canada had an Internet subscription, with many subscribers preferring higher download speeds. The percentage of households with an Internet connection featuring download speeds of at least 1.5 megabits per second (Mbps) jumped from 62% to 70% in one year. Additionally, subscriptions to Internet download speeds of at least 5 Mbps rose from 44% to 52%.

A broadband Internet connection allows users to stream and download high-quality audiovisual content, and access online government, health and educational services. With an average of 5.5 Mbps, Canada ranked second only to Japan in an international comparison of Internet download speeds.

During 2010, the average residential broadband user downloaded 14.8 gigabytes per month, which is the equivalent of viewing more than 20 movies.

Wireless services

In 2010, advanced wireless networks that support smartphones and other devices that connect to the Internet extended to 97% of the Canadian population. Adoption of wireless services continued to grow as the number of subscribers increased by 8.5% to 25.8 million. This contrasts with the number of subscribers to home telephone services, which decreased by 0.9% to 12.6 million.

New competitors began making inroads in the major Canadian markets, capturing 25% of new subscribers. Although they offered mostly prepaid subscriptions, their competitive presence contributed to a reduction in the average revenue per user from $58.81 to $57.86 per month.

Local North Sault Tbaytel Agency Placed on Hold – 02 Aug 11

Due to unforeseen circumstances, it became necessary to remove the information about The Brick outlet in Sault Ste. Marie selling the Tbaytel Rocket Hub immediately and handsets in September.

We are hopeful there will be a quick and favourable resolution to the problem.

In the meantime, The Brick outlet in Wawa remains a Tbaytel hardware outlet for both the Rocket Hubs and handsets.

Wawa
41 BROADWAY AVENUE
WAWA, Ontario P0S1K0
(705) 856-4252