DSL Service in the SSM Airport - Pointes Area

There has been talk about DSL service being available in the SSM Airport- Pointes area. I also received a report about a resident getting a notification from Bell offering broadband (high speed) Internet service for terms that are identical to the entry level Bell DSL service.

Are the reports true – well, yes and no.

Low speed DSL service, that is 2Mbps download, is available in the Pointes aux Pins area, around the airport and some areas of Prince Township. It appears the service is not available in Pointes des Chênes and Nokomis Beach areas.

This was not a full-fledged DSL roll-out but rather a coincidental by-product of a copper wire refurbishment project in area. I remember receiving comments from residents of the area years ago about noisy phone lines and even loss of service in some cases when it rained so a refurbishment plan was definitely in order.

To see if this DSL service is available at your residence, get access to the Internet, go to the Bell website and use the software tool located just above the product descriptions to determine if it is available where you live.

As a reminder, the range of DSL over good copper lines is around 7 km cable distance from the Central Office (CO) which in this case is at the corner of Base Line Rd and Airport Rd. The use of a remote DSLAM (digital subscriber line access multiplexer) in an organized roll-out can service larger areas.

As far as can be determined, this DSL service is not part of or a replacement for the Deferral Account program in the area.

I have no new information at this time as to when the Deferral Account HSPA service will be available in the area except the previously announced 2012.

Chapleau Gets FTTH

Chapleau has become the envy of broadband (high speed Internet) users across the Algoma District when it became the first community in the District to receive Fibre-to-the-Home or FTTH infrastructure. Vianet announced availability of the service on 02 May 12. Details can be found on the Vianet website.

Chapleau is now a very competitive environment with three different vendors  - Bell, Tbaytel, and  Vianet, -  providing service using three different technologies - DSL (wireline), 3G/4G HSPA (wireless) and FTTH (cable).

North Sault Data Hub Issues Update 01 May 12

In my blog of 15 Mar 12 I discussed issues users were experiencing with data hubs in the North Sault area. Since then I have had a number of exchanges with both Rogers and Tbaytel about this matter.

I can say that both companies have taken the concerns seriously and  are taking administrative steps and infrastructure action that should lead to improved service for the users. I will publish additional details once they become available. 

I stated elsewhere that it could take up to six months from when I made an issue of the problems before there might be an improvement in the quality of service. Based on this forecast I expect to see some improvement during the summer of 2012.

Heyden Bell Site Status 15 Apr 12

Signs continue to confirm the reports in my blogs of 4 Nov 11  and 29 Jan 12 about Bell Mobility expanding into the North Sault area. There is now a new power line near the entrance to Beaumont Mobile Home Park; it goes up the hill to the proposed location of the new Bell tower identified in the public consultation process.  From road level it also appears there has been some clearance work done on the crest of the hill.

I guess Bell did not want to see a repeat of the Echo Bay/Hwy 638/Hwy 17 situation where lack of a power line meant the location had to be run on diesel generator for some time after the site went operational.

If the Heyden Bell site follows the previous patterns for new Bell sites, it will be a HSPA+ only and will not support legacy CDMA hardware.

CRTC Consultation on the Cellular Sector

On April 4, 2012 the CRTC published a Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2012-206 seeking “views on the state of completion in the Canadian wireless sector.” The CRTC does not currently regulate the wireless industry. This is based on a 1994 conviction that there was enough competition in the marketplace to regulate the industry. Recent surveys, reports, and studies have led some to cast doubt on the feasibility of the unregulated approach. (Note: One might consider that Industry Canada/Spectrum Branch indirectly regulates the industry by application of regulations, procedures and control of spectrum that need to be followed in order to establish service.) 

A press release by Mr. David Orazietti, MPP for Sault Ste. Marie outlined his view of the current situation as expressed in the contents of a proposed private member’s bill. There are similar bill in other provinces in various states of progress. Quebec is the only province that currently has clauses affecting cellular service in their consumer protection related acts.

There is a mechanism in place to allow individuals and organizations to respond to the CRTC call for consultation. Details on how to participate can be found on the CRTC website. The call has generated significant response already and can be found at this site.

I suspect that the majority of the interventions will involve Mobile handset based service and their costs, poor customer service and lack of vendor response to customer concerns. I will be surprised if there are many interventions concerning data hubs and basic rural broadband (high speed) Internet service

In accordance with CRTC policy, all submissions will be made public and posted at the intervention site. It will be interesting to see how the cellular vendors respond to the consultation process.

Deferral Account Information as of 03 Apr 12

This is the follow-up to my blog of 22 Feb 12 on the Deferral Account situation.
Bell submitted the required annual report to the CRTC dated 30 Mar12. It was notable for its lack of detail, in particular the omission of any community names and a detailed schedule. The following is taken from the report published on the CRTC web site.

4. Broadband IP networks have been extended to 22 of the approved communities in 2011 in support of the future provision of broadband services to those areas. These fibre optic networks are being engineered with full diversity to ensure a level of service that will be equal to what is currently available in the rest of the network. The Companies are in the process of completing similar work for another 46 communities during 2012.

5. Finally, Bell Canada is in the process of modifying its processes and systems to be able to provide the approved retail wireless broadband services to the approved areas, and plans on completing this work by the end of this year. Bell Canada expects to start offering its wireless broadband services to some of the approved communities by the end of this year or early next year. At this time, the Companies are unable to provide a precise roll-out plan for this program.

My interpretation of the above is that Bell is reneging on its policy of wireless only for new broadband (high speed) Internet installations and is installing fibre optic based networks in 68 of the Deferral Account communities but no locations are specified. I suspect they are the communities on the suburban fringe of major market areas and to some degree are accounted for by new urban sprawl since the original Deferral Account plan submissions. At the moment, I have no way to determine if any areas in the Algoma District are affected.
I will continue to monitor the project and publish information as it becomes available.

700 MHz Auction and Other Announcements on 14 Mar 12

Industry Canada published two important documents on 14 Mar 14 – Pi Day – concerning the Mobile (cellular) industry in Canada. Maybe they picked Pi Day because they feel the complaints about Mobile service in Canada by both self proclaimed experts and the OECD will go on ad infinitum just like the value of Pi.

The two documents are:

a. Proposed Revisions to the Frameworks for Mandatory Roaming and Antenna Tower and Site Sharing (hereafter referred to as Roaming/Sharing)

b. Policy and Technical Framework: Mobile Broadband Services (MBS) – 700 MHz Band, Broadband Radio Service (BRS) – 2500 MHz Band (Hereafter referred to as 700 MHz Auction Rules)

The Roaming/Sharing document asks for comments on the proposed changes to the existing policies and procedures that affect the roaming on Mobile networks and the sharing of existing or new towers and cites. Most of the proposed changes are procedural in nature involving the relationship between the various vendors, the interaction with Industry Canada, arbitration procedures and timelines/deadlines for certain actions.

Three areas which may be of general interest are: first, the proposal to do away with the current two tier roaming system in favour of a single tier system nationwide; and second, the establishment of a tower/site data base which eventually allow vendors to carry out certain engineering work without contacting the site owner; third, the application of the rules to all telecommunication tower owners and not just Mobile operators.

Previously an AWS operator like Wind needed a roaming agreement for their home frequency area i.e. Wind in the Toronto area, as well as a second agreement for areas outside the home area The new rules are an effort to allow the new AWS entrants to get there offering into new areas quickly. (This applies only to roaming charges. Users of the AWS will still need to pay the applicable long distance charges.)

The new data base will provide enough information to allow a requesting user to examine the proposed site to determine if it is feasible to use it to satisfy their needs. Currently, the requesting user has to ask the owner for the information. As can be imagined, this leaves the system open to abuse and unnecessary delay. It also costs both parties a lot of money especially if the requesting user decides not to use the site. As a side benefit, it may make it easier to identify cell site locations.

The inclusion of all telecommunications tower owners in the policy could have the effect of speeding up the process of establishing a new cell site.

The 700 MHz Auction Rules document is much more complex and will require further study before more in-depth comment can be made. However, two items that standout are that the major incumbents (Bell, Rogers and Telus) will have a cap on the total amount of spectrum they can hold and the same applies to regional carriers that are dominate in their area of operation and the whole of Northern Ontario is one of the 14 designated Tier 2 regions.

Also part of the announcement was changes to the foreign ownership rules. The current restriction of foreign ownership of Canadian telecommunications companies will be lifted for new entrants having less than 10% market share. The foreign ownership may remain in place if the company gains share though normal market growth but will not be allowed if the growth is by means of a takeover or merger.

 

Industry Canada expects all the changes to be in place by the time of the 700 MHz auction in early 2013.

I will publish more about the auction and the impact of the rules and changes as I complete further study of the documents.

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