Goulais Cell Site Before Upgrade

This is the frequency prediction coverage for the existing cell and tower configuration

Legend for the map

Upgrade to Goulais (Buttermilk) Cell Site.

Tbaytel will be carrying out major infrastructure upgrades to the Goulais (Buttermilk) cell site and tower on, Monday, 18 Jun 2012. The work will require that the cell site be taken off the air from 0530 – 2130 (5:00 AM to 9:30 PM). The period may be shorter if the work proceeds well. In case of inclement weather the alternate date is Tuesday, 19 Jun 2012.

The work to be done includes new antennas, reorientation of the coverage pattern and the addition of a second carrier.

I would appreciate receiving feedback about the impact of the changes after they are completed.

TBAYTEL HSPA Maintenance

The following is posted on the Tbaytel website

Maintenance Advisory - Mobility - Network Wide - June 6 to 24

Tbaytel will be performing system wide maintenance daily to our HSPA Wireless Network beginning Wednesday, June 6 between approximately 1 and 4:00 am EDT ending Sunday, June 24. During these times cellular service will be temporarily interrupted for a short period.

This will also affect Rogers subscribers.

Broadband Gap Study for Northern Ontario

On May 22, 2012 FedNor issued a press release entitled “Government of Canada investment to enhance broadband services across Northern Ontario”. The gist of the release was that one of the sister CBN’s had been provided $ 125,000 in funding to carry out a study with the following objectives.

1. Conduct a gap analysis study to identify areas in Northern Ontario that need improved broadband services;
2. Map service areas; and
3. Identify fibre optic access points.

This information will be mapped to a GIS data base.

Blue Sky Net and its project consultant Barrie Crampton is in the process of contacting communities within the Algoma District for their input. ‘

This is in addition to information already provided by ADnet and the other CBN’s.

It is expected the study will be completed by the end of 2012 and result in a clearer idea where gaps exist in Internet coverage across the north.

Realistic Speed Advertising

The acting head of the CRTC announced today that the CRTC is conducting a test project to determine what the actual Internet speed is that a consumer receives. For years, the vendors have advertised "up to" which in most cases was the maximum theoretical capability of the technology used. When users conducted speed tests using either a vendor's program or a third party program, the actual speed received by a user was very much less. It was not unheard of for users to record as much as 1/4 or less of the advertised speed. This has been a long-standing complaint of Internet users.

The United Kingdom (Ofcom) and the United Stated (FCC) have conducted similar tests in the past. Some of these studies resulted in regulatory policy affecting how vendors can advertise their Internet speeds.

Acting CRTC chair Leonard Katz indicated the CRTC is now in the process of conducting a pilot project in collaboration with an unnamed Internet Service Provider. I am sure the fact that the CRTC is working with an established ISP will give rise to many accusations of collusion and complicity. The use of independent testing organization may have added credibility to any data collected.

Nevertheless, the need to provide a more accurate statement of what speeds a user can expect is long overdue.

Mr. Katz did not provide a timeline for publication of the results but he anticipated live testing to begin in 60 to 90 days.

This is definitely a study that bears watching.

Bell Elaborates on the Deferral Account Plan 17 May 12

Bell has submitted an additional report to the CRTC concerning Deferral Account status that elaborates on the rather skimpy information provide in the 30 Mar 12 report discussed in the blog on 03 Apr 12. All items in quotes are from the recent Bell submission to the CRTC.

The new report gives greater detail about the Deferral Account work program which needs to be completed before the service can be offered to the public in the Deferral Account areas. Unfortunately, the item most blog readers are interested in – the roll-out schedule - has been blanked out. Bell’s reasoning is: - “To release the draft roll-out plan contained herein may convey plans to communities that will change significantly once the detailed roll-out plan is finalized and put on the public record at the end of July.”

The report also clarifies that Bell “plans on deploying broadband services to the reaming 109 approved communities using the wireless HSPA+ technology. Completion of the roll-out to all communities is planned for 31 August 2014, consistent with [CRTC] decision 2010-637.”

Bell provided a public high level schedule in the report as follows but it does not identify the communities (Deferral Account areas):

1. By 31 December 2012, seven communities are expected to be in-service;
2. Between 1 January 2013 and 30 April 2013, eight more communities are expected to be rolled out:
3. Between 1 May 2013 and 31 December 2013, 28 additional communities are expected to be rolled out; and
4. Between 1 January 2014 and 31 August 2014, the remaining 66 communities will be in-service by 31 August 2014.

The report identifies three categories of work that needs to be done before Deferral Account service can be activated in a specific area;

1. System Development. This is the IS/IT systems that need to be in place to support the service “including the pricing, specifically set for the deferral account-funded communities only. Until this work is completed, even if the HSPA+ technology infrastructure was built in a community, the Company could not launch the service. This work is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2012.”
2. Wireline Transport. “Construction of wireline transport includes augmentation of the transport equipment where required in the core network and building the fibre to the tower sites in the deferral account-funded communities.” This clarifies the initial report that gave rise to the possibility that fibre would be used instead of HSPA+. Unfortunately it looks like we will be stuck with HSPA+
3. Wireless Access. This covers the design, engineering, real estate acquisition and construction of the actual towers and installation of the electronics for the broadband transmission.

I find the procedure for roll-to interesting. According to the report, “…for a given community, once the wireline transport is ready and 80% of the households have access to broadband from a site or tower in the community, broadband service will be made available to those customers. The remaining customers in the community will be provided access as the additional sites required are constructed.” My interpretation of this is that the Deferral Account rates will be only offered once the criteria are met. When this is combined with the System Development requirement noted above, the new site at Goulais may be initially commissioned as a normal cell site in 3^rd quarter 2012 and perhaps converted to Deferral Account service afterwards.

An attachment to the report lists the 109 communities designated for Deferral Account service. In the Algoma District they are: Echo Bay (Sylvan Valley and rural area around the community), Goulais, SSM-Airport (the Pointes area), St Joseph Island and Wawa.

The next milestone appears to be the release of the detailed schedule.

Complaint Procedures

I often receive complaints about various aspects of telecom service in the Algoma District. If you are a customer of one the incumbent companies and are having a problem, you can try to use the established procedures and attempt to resolve the problem.

All the principal primary vendors serving the Algoma District have an established complaint resolution and escalation system. The depth of procedural information provided varies from vendor to vendor but can be found as follows:

Bell, Eastlink, Ontera, Rogers, Shaw, Telus, Tbaytel and Vianet.

Also the third party companies serving the Algoma District have similar policies.

Rogers is somewhat different in that it is the only one that has an ombudsman who issues an annual public report.

The escalation procedures require you to go through each step of the 3 or 4 step process in sequence to get to top level management intervention.

In all cases, the ultimate arbitrator is the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS). While the CCTS states it is an independent, not-for -profit entity, it is funded by the carriers who use the service. Membership includes both primary and third party vendors.

In my experience, if one follows the procedures, in most cases a mutually agreeable outcome can be achieved. It may take a while, be frustrating and time consuming, but it does work. That does not mean you will always get the result you want or think you deserve. Others have also reported satisfactory results when they were willing to take their time and follow the procedures. As in any dispute both sides have a points of view and the differences need to be resolved.

The most important action in the process is the maintenance of good records of all exchanges with the carrier. One can rest assured that the vendors are keeping meticulous records including voice recordings in some cases.

My approach is to use an oral approach for the initial contact. If I cannot get satisfaction at that point, all further inaction is conducted by e-mail. It may take a bit more work, but it simplifies the record keeping. In any case, as a minimum one should keep track of the date, time, what was discussed and with whom you made contact using either their company ID name or real name. If the vendor makes an offer of resolution, you should ask for a copy in writing either by e-mail or snail mail. Remember there is an adage often credited to movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn that says "A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on”

There are other approaches to dispute resolution outside the established procedures but I only recommend them as a last resort.