Bell Deferral Account Report Released 17 Apr 2014

The latest Bell Deferral Account quarterly status report was released through the CRTC website  on 17 Apr 2014. This report covered the period Jan to Mar 2014 and like previous reports was heavily redacted with much of the information of value to potential customers blacked out under the pretence of "competitive information."  (I am sure the new cell site in Wawa, Goulais and St. Joseph Island would go completely unnoticed by the competition unless they were identified in the report.)

There were no problems or delay identified for the Algoma District Deferral Account areas and the previously published activation schedule still applies:

Deferral Account Area	Activation Date*
Echo Bay	31 Aug 2014
Goulais	31 Jul 2014
SSM-Airport	31 Jul 2014
St. Joseph Island	30 Jun 2014
Wawa	31 Jul 2014

                        ∗ Latest planned date. Could be earlier if all is ready

 By way of clarification these dates apply to the activation and availability  of the special Deferral Account service rates . Most of the tower and associated cell sites  in Goulais, St. Joseph Island and Wawa are completed and are operating in a normal fashion as part of the standard Bell Mobility network. This means that anyone using a data hub or a data stick connected through these new sites constructed as part of the Deferral Account project are currently paying the normal rates.

I am not sure of the policy that will apply after the Deferral Account service rates become available: will customers be moved onto the new rate plan immediately or will they be transferred only after their existing agreement expires? 

Below is the proposed rate structure accepted  by the CRTC for HSPA+ wireless based version of Bell Deferral Account service.( The original proposal back around 2004 called for a DSL based solution.) It has been fined tuned over the years: - the activation fees has been waived and the monthly rental fees dropped. For some reason, Bell is keeping the details very close to the chest. Bottom line is that $46.95 + plus tax ( $41.95 Home Zone Wireless Plus + the $5.00 insurance for an extra 40 GB), one can get 65 GB. 

	Proposed HSPA+ Retail Broadband Services
Province	Ontario
Service Name	Home Zone Wireless	Home Zone Wireless Plus
Monthly Rate	$31.95	$41.95
Download Speed	Up to 2Mbps	Up to 7 Mbps
Upload Speed	Up to 1 Mbps	Up to 3 Mbps
Monthly Usage Allowance	2 GB	25 GB
Monthly Charge for Additional Usage	$2.50/GB, maximum of $30 per month
Usage Insurance	$5.00 per month for extra 40 GB
Activation Fee	$29.95
Hardware	Turbo Hub: $3.95 monthly rental fee
Term	Monthly

The final rate structure is not readily available at this time but a Bell representative accidently quoted a basic rate of $37.95 for 20GB to customer in East Algoma but quickly withdrew the offer saying the plan was not available in the customer's area.

 Even though there are area in other parts of Ontario where the plan has been launched, there is nothing on the Bell website and I have not been able to get hold of the plan's official  rate structure. Unlike the tower/site locations redacted in the report, I accept the rate structure as legitimate "competitive information" at this time.

Bell will be conducting a marketing campaign with more detail once the service is ready to accept customers.

 The other big unknown is how will the other cellular service suppliers react to the new competition.  Will they match the new rates for their data hub services?

St Joseph Island Cell Activation

Bell has activated the Deferral Account sites on St. Joseph Island but there is no indication that they are yet offering Deferral Account service. See http://goo.gl/6lnF2l for additional details.

Deferral Account service is supposed to be considerably less expensive than their conventional data hub offering.  

Deferral Account service is scheduled to become available later this summer. Potential user contemplating getting access to the new service now need to ask if they will be eligible for Deferral Account rates, when it will be available and can they convert to the new Deferral Account rate plans without penalty when they become available. Be sure to get the answer in writing and the ID of the Bell employee providing the information. 

Outcome of 700 MHz Auction Canada 2014

Industry Canada announced the winners of the 700 MHz frequency spectrum auction on February 19, 2014.

The big winner in Northern Ontario appears to be Bell Canada who purchased 4 blocks. The big loser was Tbaytel who was shut out.  Bragg (who operates as Eastlink), Rogers and Telus each got a single block.  

Here is the breakdown of the results that affect the Algoma District which is part of the Northern Ontario covered by Auction Area 2-09 is shown on this map:

Band	Frequencies	Paired or Unpaired	Bandwidth	Company
A	698-704 MHz/728-734 MHz	Paired	6+6 MHz	Bell
B	704-710 MHz/734-740 MHz	Paired	6+6 MHz	Bell
C	710-716 MHz/740-746 MHz	Paired	6+6 MHz	Rogers
C1	777-782 MHz/746-751 MHz	Paired	5+5 MHz	Bragg (Eastlink)
C2	782-787 MHz/751-756 MHz	Paired	5+5 MHz	Telus
D	716-722 MHz	Unpaired	6 MHz	Bell
E	716-722 MHz	Unpaired	6 MHz	Bell

Over the next few days, I will examine the impact the of the auction results and post my impressions  in due course. 

CRTC Inquiry Into Satellite Transport Services

The CRTC quietly issued Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2014-44 on 06 Feb 2014 entitled:

"Appointment of an Inquiry Officer to review matters related to transport services provided by satellite”

Commissioner Candice Molnar will conduct “an inquiry with respect to the Canadian marketplace for satellite services that are used by telecommunications service providers (TSPs) to provide telecommunications services to Canadians.”  One way to look at TSPs is to consider them the last mile service providers.

The inquiry will look at both sides of the satellite provisioning issue;

Satellite perspective. The satellite services provided by satellite operators to the TSPs covering such items as: who they are; rates the TSPs pay; technical limitations; current and future satellite capacity; future technology; and CRTC framework for the satellite services.

TSPs perspective. Indentify TSPs that use satellite services; TSPs operating areas; the numbers of customers who have access to their services and the numbers of customers they serve; delivered services; and end-users service limitations.

The high cost of satellite backhaul service was a recurring theme in the recent CRTC hearings about Northwestel regulatory framework and Modernization Plan (the Northwestel proceedings). In particular, many of the intervenors placed much of the blame for the high cost providing reasonably priced Internet access to remote communities on the high cost of satellite transport.

While the satellite technology exists that can provide a service that compares favourably with terrestrial based systems used in the urban and suburban environment, the amount of bandwidth required it provide reasonable capacity is either not available or prohibitively expensive and in lot of cases a combination of both.

Unfortunately, the inquiry will not address issues relating to satellite services that satellite operators provide directly to end-users, it should cover services provided by the self styled “Canada's leading provider of rural broadband” TSP – Xplornet.

The inquiry is scheduled to be completed by October 2014. 

Telecom and the Federal Budget 2014

The Federal Budget released on 11 Feb 14 had a few sections affecting telecommunications. The full budget and related information can be found starting at the budget home page.  Information about telecommunications can be found in Chapter 3.4 pages 177 to 180.

In the cellular arena, the budget calls for amending the Telecommunications Act by introducing a cap on “wholesale domestic roaming rates to prevent wireless providers from charging other companies more than they charge their own customers for voice, data and text services.” This action is obviously being introduced to help the new entrants –, Mobilicity, Vidéotron and Wind – who rely on the incumbent carriers for network access (roaming) outside their home area.  There should be little direct impact on the average consumer unless they are a new entrant customer and the companies decide to pass the potential savings on to their customers. On the other hand, there is the chance the incumbents could adjust their rates to make-up for any loss income.

The budget implies that the cap will be temporary and may be adjusted as a result of the ongoing CRTC study of Canadian roaming rates

The Telecommunications Act will also be amended to give Industry Canada and the CRTC “the power to impose administrative monetary penalties on companies that violate established rules.” Some of the target infractions relate to the Wireless Code, spectrum deployment timelines, service to rural areas and tower sharing.

There are also a number of areas that the government feels need addressing including such as:

   

1.       Enhanced information sharing amongst the CRTC, Industry Canada and the Competition Bureau; 

2.      Clarify the elements of the spectrum auction rules; and 

3.       Clarify the prohibition on jamming devices. 

There is an additional one that I do not quite understand so I will quote it in full:

“Provide the CRTC with the authority to impose conditions pertaining to social requirements on telecommunications service providers that are not carriers (i.e. “re-sellers” of services) to help ensure that all consumers can benefit, no matter which provider they choose.”

On the broadband (high speed) Internet side of the house, the budget identified the sum of $304 million over five years “to extend and enhance access” broadband access networks. The body of the document also mentions “enhancing and extending access.” This is a subtle change to previous funding programs which could not be used to enhance or improve existing services.

One has to question the targeted speed of 5 Mbps. While this may be considered barely adequate today, I suspect that by the time implementation actually takes place it will be borderline acceptable.

Also, the budget does not address the issue of the fiscal digital divide. The fact remains that many people cannot afford the hardware and recurring charges associated with getting Internet service in their homes.

The telecommunications section ends with a short discussion of the use of spectrum to deliver broadband in rural areas. It reinforces the previously espoused principle of “use it or lose it” where licensees are given a specific time period to implement the service roll-out or lose the license.  

It is a fact that while cellular broadband and data is the fastest growing segment of the market and in the rural areas the cheapest for the vendors to install, it is also the most expensive for the end user on a monthly billing basis unless a special tariff is created.

The section ends with this statement: “…an additional 280,000 Canadian households, which represents near universal access. The Government will announce further details about the new program in the coming months.”

One can only hope that they learned from their previous efforts and the new program shows a vast improvement. 

Stay tuned for additional news. 

New Cell Sites in North Sault

I have received various reports that Bell has recently activated a number of cell sites in the Goulais and Wawa areas. 

The new Goulais sites are Goulais Bay (Pine Shore Road), Nils Bay, and Kirby’s Corner. These sites are in addition to the existing Bell sites at Batchawana Bay, Havilland (Buttermilk) and Heyden. The site at Havilland Bay will likely come on line in the second quarter of 2014. See the map below.

St. Joseph Island  sites are still under construction.

There are also three sites in the Wawa area that are now operational. See the map below.

While the sites were built as part of the Deferral Account project, the full Deferral Account service option is not scheduled for commissioning until end July 2014. The Deferral Account network cell sites are designed to provide maximum broadband (high speed) Internet service coverage using a data hub connected to an external antenna. Standard cell voice and data service is a side benefit. Because of this, it may be possible that data hub service will be better than voice service in some areas.

Once Bell is ready to activate the Deferral Account area, they will do a advertising blitz to inform local residents about the program. 

Bell Deferral Account Report Released 17 Jan 2014

The CRTC released the Bell Deferral Account report for the 4^th Quarter of 2013 on Friday 17 Jan 2014.

Unlike previous reports, there is some useful data left in this report instead of being redacted. There is still a lot of information I would like to see and cannot think of any compelling reason why it is blacked out. (They actually use the # symbol which is ironic considering how the hash tag is used in other applications to highlight available information.)

The new uncensored information provided by Bell is entitled “Service Ready Date”.  The dates for the Algoma District Deferral Account areas are:

Area	Date*
Echo Bay	31 Aug 2014
Goulais	31 Jul 2014
SSM-Airport	31 Jul 2014
St. Joseph Island	30 Jun 2014
Wawa	31 Jul 2014

∗ Latest planned date. Could be earlier if all is ready

Bell indicated they are still having problems with local residents in some areas about the location of towers. The main complaints centre on aesthetics, height of the tower, and avoidance lighting. When comments about the health impact are included, the list pretty well covers the majority of adverse comments brought forth at public consultations. There have been a number of sites in the Algoma District that have been moved (on paper) in response to local input.

Bell has also had a few problems with backhaul networks. A crushed conduit under the highway near Marathon means they will be relying on radio backhaul instead of fibre optic cable for a while.

In December 2013, the CRTC specifically asked Bell about the use of an external antenna. While Bell stated “there has been no negative feedback from our customers related to the use of such antennae and that in the marketing materials we send out to the communities to be launched, we advise our potential customers that the use of an external antenna is required.”, they did not comment about any other feedback for the service in general. In particular, has Bell designed a solution that can handle network congestion?  

Finally, there are a number of small inconsistencies in the dates used in the written report document and those used in the spreadsheet. In most cases this is only a month or two but does show a lack of attention to detail which I hope is not reflected in network design.

The full report is available on the CRTC website. Scroll down to 2014-01-15 - Bell Canada