Bell Quarterly Deferral Account Report of 15 Jul 2014

The purpose of this blog entry is to provide an update on the Deferral Account construction status and provide some background information on the Deferral Account pricing.  

General Overview

The CRTC has published the most recent Bell quarterly Deferral Account Report. The report, dated 15 Jul 2014, adjusts the Ready for Service dates of the two Algoma District sites from the previous report in April 2014. The revised dates as applied to the Goulais and the SSM-Airport areas:

Area	Date in Jul Report	Date in Apr Report
Echo Bay	31 Aug 2014	No change
Goulais	09 Jul 2014	31 Jul 2014
SSM -Airport	09 Jul 2014	31 Jul 2014
St. Joseph Island	30 Jun 2014	No change
Wawa	31 Aug 2014	No change

The date report only discusses the Wireless Access Summary (Tower, new sites, existing site upgrades, etc.)  and Wire Transport Summary (Backhaul).

There is no mention of the when new Deferral Account rate (price) plans will be available.

Bell has insisted in this report and other correspondence with the CRTC that they will complete the by the CRTC deadline of 31 August 2014. Since the rate (price) plan is part of the project, this should be the latest the Deferral Account prices will become available.

As noted in the background information below, the necessary back office details needed to implement the Deferral Account rate(price) plan is complete so it is hard to understand why the delay on presenting the cost savings to the users in the Deferral Account areas that have the necessary hardware infrastructure up and running.

Background Information

As directed by the CRTC  letter to Bell of 29 Oct 2012, The Bell report is suppose to contain a section, which this report does not,  on "The status of IS/IT system development to support the retail wireless broadband service, including the expected completion date".   

This may be because Bell had report previously in their Jul and Dec 2012 reports that work was due for and in fact completed by the end of 2012.

In these two reports, Bell acknowledges and  confirms that  there will be " approved services, including the pricing, specifically set for the deferral account-funded communities only", a phrase which appears in both reports.

This requirement is based on the following section of the Bell 15 Jul 2012 report:

"The development of the Retail Wireless Broadband Service requires modifying processes and systems to provide the approved services, including the pricing, specifically set for the deferral account-funded communities only.  Until this work is completed, even if the wireless technology infrastructure was built in a community, the Company could not launch the service.  This work is currently underway and will be completed before the end of 2012, prior to the launch of service to the nine communities."

Bell elaborated on this aspect of the project in the 31 Dec 2012 report:

"Status of the IS/IT System Development to Support the Retail Wireless Broadband Service

1.                    The development of the Retail Wireless Broadband Service required Bell to modify its processes and systems to be able to provide the approved services, including the pricing, specifically set for the deferral account-funded communities only.  This work, which was a prerequisite to being able to rollout the wireless broadband services to the approved communities, has now been completed.  The key activities that were carried out as part of this work include the following:

1. -               Changes to the billing system to incorporate the price plans for the retail wireless broadband services that are or will be offered in the approved communities, including the monthly rates and data allowances; 
2. -               Changes to the activation system and the development of a third-party application to pre-qualify eligible retail customers (i.e., determine if the address at which the person is requesting broadband services is within an approved deferral account community).  The activation system is used by the sales agent to select the desired price plan and hardware, perform credit checks and validate customer addresses, for example, and triggers the provisioning of the customer information and hardware in the billing system and network;
3. -               Creation of a new Service Agreement to be provided to the deferral account retail customers;
4. -    -             Integration of the Bell Mobility and other Bell systems to permit the provisioning of certain "DSL like" features such as Bell Mail (email);
5. -              Changes to the Bell.ca online system for customer self-serve management of Bell Mail;
6. -               Configuration of network elements to provide data usage notifications and Pay-Per-Use prompting for overage charges which allows customers to exceed the usage allotment of their plans and be notified of the pay-per-use $ per GB that they will incur; 
7. -              Enhancements to existing and new Client Care support systems to support the broadband wireless services in the communities that are included in the program; 
8. -              Contracting of a third-party for the initial installation and ongoing support of external antennas at the customer premises; 
9. -               Testing and approvals for a dual-mode (LTE/HSPA+) Turbo Hub hardware (mobile broadband router) for use at the customer premises;
10.  -               Creation of training materials to Sales, Client Care and Technical Support teams related to the services offered as part of the deferral account-funded program; and 
11. -               Creation of direct mail campaign material to market the new service to prospective retail customers located in the approved communities."

Impact of CDMA Close Out in North Sault Area

In my blog entry of 09 Jun 2014, I reported on the Tbaytel plans to close down their CDMA (2G) service and the impact this might have. As noted in the post, Bell CDMA will also be affected as they are in effect piggy-backing on the Tbaytel network. When the Tbaytel CDMA network closes down, the associated Bell CDMA service will also disappear.

Bell (and Tbaytel) CDMA customers have two options available to them - cancel service altogether or upgrade to the HSPA+ service provided by one of the two carriers. The latter will require the user getting a new handset capable of processing the HSPA+ signal. Because the need to upgrade is caused by the vendor ‘s actions, one might, and I emphasis might, be able to negotiate some kind of special price deal.

Both Bell and Tbaytel offer the HSPA+ service in the North Sault area from the Sault city limits to the Pancake Bay area. 

Bell uses Bell owned towers and cell sites to provide their HSPA+ service.  They are no longer reliance on the Tbaytel network.  This means that a Bell CDMA user who switches to Bell HSPA+ will be receiving their signal from a different physical location. In some locations, the Bell and Tbaytel towers are located near each other. This is the case at Heyden and Goulais while at other places only one or the other is located such as Tbaytel at Batchawana (Jones Landing) and Bell at Hwy 17/Hwy 563 intersection.

Another big difference is the frequency used to provide the service. The old Bell and Tbaytel CDMA service operated in the 850 MHz band and the Tbaytel HSPA+ continues to operate in this band.  The Bell HSPA+ operates in the 1900 MHz band. Generally speaking, the 850 MHz signal can travel farther and penetrate obstructions such as foliage and buildings better than the 1900 MHz signal. On the other hand, the 1900 MHz signal can handle more traffic at higher speeds than the 850 MHz signal.  Bell has tried to address the range issue by installing more towers than Tbaytel.

What this means is some customers who previously had good quality CDMA cellular phone service may not be able to get an equivalent quality of service using HSPA+ using the basic handset. (Remember, a CDMA handset will not work on the HSPA+ network nor will a Bell HSPA+ handset work on the Tbaytel HSPA+ network.) 

There is technology available through third party vendors that can boost and improve the signal within a designated area.

New Tbaytel Data Hub Available

Tbaytel has selected their replacement for the Rocket Hub. (See Where are the Rocket Hubs and Rocket Hub Update for the back story)

Their website identifies the Options Globesurfer III+ as the chosen successor.This appears to be a new entrant in the Canada  data hub market with MTS being the only other known user. 

Options Wireless Technology is a Belgium based company.  Details about the Globesurfer III+can be found on their website.

There  does not appear to be any changes in the Tbaytel flex plan rate. 

Tbaytel Closing Down Its CDMA Service

Tbaytel has announced that it is closing down its CDMA service starting on 01 Jun 2014. This  action will also affect Bell and affiliated service providers as they use the Tbaytel CDMA network  to provide coverage in the affected areas.  

This action is part of the wrap-up of the CDMA technology across Canada. Telus announced previously that it started to shut down CDMA in March of this year. Bell has not commissioned any new CDMA sits for a number of years and announced they will phase out CDMA completely by 2017.  All new Bell sites are HSPA and/or LTE. 

This is the notification from the Tbaytel website:

"CDMA Mobility Network Decommissioning - Sunday, June 1st

On Sunday, June 1st Tbaytel will begin turning down select CDMA sites. As sites are turned down throughout the year, CDMA customers will begin to notice degradation of service. By December 2014, all CDMA sites will be shut down and Tbaytel will no longer offer CDMA service.  

As part of this end-of-life process, EVDO data services will be shut down on June 1st, 2014. Customers using EVDO data services will notice reduced data speed and will only have access to 1X data services.

CDMA customers can visit an Authorized Tbaytel Dealer to transition over to Tbaytel's 4G HSPA Network and enjoy the many benefits of 4G service." 

Rocket Hub Update

This is an update on the blog entry "Where are the Rocket Hubs?".

Rogers advised Tbaytel on 28 May 2014 that they would no longer be marketing the Rocket Hubs (Netcomm data hubs) effective immediately.  It seems there was no advance warning of this action.

Whether or not Rogers offered Tbaytel a replacement hardware option or Tbaytel was wary of renewing a single source supply chain is unclear.  In any case, it appears Tbaytel will maintain a portable Internet choice and  is actively searching for a hardware replacement to the Rocket Hub.

As indicated in the previous blog entry, the Rogers LTE Rocket Mobile Hotspot - Sierra Wireless AirCard 763S currently offered by Rogers may very well serve as a data hub replacement from a technical point of view. There are options available for the basic model such as external antennas and docking router unit that allow the Mobile Hotspot to mimic most features of the Rocket Hub. The big shortcoming of the Mobile Hotspots is that they are not 700 MHz compatible. 

The outstanding question is whether or not the Flex Rate Plans for Hubs will be applicable to Mobile Hotspot models configured as a hub or will the Tablets, Mobile Hotspots & Sticks rate apply. This is significant as the Hub rate is $90.00 for 20 GB versus a Mobile Hotspot rate of $85.00 for 10 GB. Both plans charge $10 per GB for usage in excess of their maximum fixed rate.

More information about the Mobile Hotspot can be found at the following sites:

http://goo.gl/S2jXc1

http://goo.gl/mHaKP6

Where are the Rocket Hubs?

There is something strange going on with the Rocket Hub on the Rogers and Tbaytel websites - it has disappeared! There is no longer a picture or technical information about the data hub hardware on either site.

On the Rogers mobile Internet page there is an icon for "Hub" as one of the four devices for mobile Internet. When you click on "View all" pricing information comes up. If you follow this by clicking the "Get started" button, the following message comes up:   

"Unfortunately, the phone you are looking for is not available for purchase on www.rogers.com."

Rogers is still listing two Flex Rate plan options for hubs on their mobile rate plan page.   

On the Tbaytel portable Internet page there is no mention of the Rocket Hub in the body of the page. The fine print at the bottom of the page refers to "Rocket Hub." The page lists details of a Data Flex plan for the "Rocket Stick" but there is no indication as to whether to not the plan applies to a Rocket Hub.

Neither the Rogers nor the Tbaytel site give any indication why they removed the Rocket Hub information or what the impact would be on existing or future customers.

A quick check confirmed that current data hub users are not experiencing any issues with their service at this time  except for the usual congestion. 

The lost of the data hub service without an equivalent replacement would have a major negative impact on the broadband (high-speed Internet) service in rural and remote areas of the Algoma District.

As of today, 02 Jun 2014, the alternative to the data hub is the Rogers Mobile Hotspot or Rocket Stick both of which are more expensive and do not offer a telephone option. Tbaytel offer the same Rocket Stick but at a slightly better Data flex plan price.

SSM Airport Bell Deferral Account Cell Site

This is a picture of the Bell cell site located at the Pointe Des Chênes campground. While the original plans called for a monopole, the installed site is obviously a standard self-support model.