Summary of Deferral Account Activity 14 Sep 2014

It has now been as little over three weeks since I announced in this blog entry that Bell had started taking orders for the Deferral Account program. What have we learned so far?  

Basic Plan

The basic plan costs $36.95 bundled and $41.95 per month (or billing period) and includes 20 GB of data transfer. This is consistent amongst all Bell Customer Service Representatives (CSR).

Bundling

One supervisor pointed out that a bundle price could only apply to one contract within the four principle product categories - Mobility, Internet, TV, and Home Phone.  Since the Deferral Account plan was a Bell Mobility offering, it could not be bundled if the user already had a cell phone bundled with another product category such as TV or Home Phone. She could not provide a website reference when I pressed the matter but said it was "policy."

If this is indeed the policy, I guess it would be possible to remove a cell phone from the bundle and substitute the Deferral Account plan although I am not sure there would be any advantage as both offer the same $5.00 saving.

Data Overages

It is the charges for overages that vary from CSR to CSR. It is all over the place.

In some cases, a CSR made the user aware of various options while in other cases only explained one offer.  The chart below identifies the various offers as garnered from the comments sections of the blog entry referenced above. It also shows how many times a CSR offered each variant to users so far. It is obvious that more consistently is required in this area.

As previously mentioned, one  supervisor indicated  Bell replaced the $5 for 25GB plan with a $10 for 20 GB plan around 27 Jul 2014 along with another fixed wireless plan similar to the Deferral Account plan. She claimed this was the source of the confusion. How much credibility you place in this Bell originated avowal is up to you. 

Overage Charge Offer	Number of Users Offered This Plan  Version
Flat Rate of $4.00 per GB	1
$2.50 per GB to maximum $80.00	1
Insurance $5.00 MRC for 25 GB	5
Insurance $10.00 MRC for 20 GB	6

Antenna Installation

So far, I am not aware that anyone from Bell Mobility or Crossover, the designated Bell antenna installer according to the Bell website, has contacted any Deferral Account user to arrange for an antenna install. Many users have let Bell know they are not happy with this situation.

On the positive side, many users are having success operating their Turbo Hubs using the built-in antennas or connecting antennas previously installed for other hardware.

My experience is the down/up speed without an external antenna is consistently above 5/1 Mbps. I am located about 3.5 km from the Goulais (Pine Shores) site.

Marketing Material

The marketing material Bell promised the CRTC it would circulate before the 31 Aug 2014 has yet to make its way to the postal boxes. I guess this is one way to keep the congestion challenge under control - do not let anyone know the service exists!

Purchase or Not

Readers who have followed the blog over the years will know I usually recommend a user purchases hardware outright rather than sign a contract and get a reduced up front cost. I compared the two-year cost of both the no contract and two year contract options. Here are the results.

Plan	Data Hub Cost	Monthly Recurring Charge (MRC)	Total of 24 Monthly Payments (MRC x 24) + Data Hub Cost
No Contract	$199.95	$36.95	$1086.79
2 Year Contract	$79.95	$41.95	$1086.75

No contract Data hub price = $199.99.  MRC = $36.95. Two year total = 199.99 + (36.95 x 24) = 1,086.79

2 Year contract Data hub price  $79.95 MRC = $41.95 Two year total = 79.95 + (41.95 x24) = 1,086.75

The 2 year contract basically saves you the rate of inflation or around $4.

Connecting Canadians Funding 26 Aug 2014

I last reported on the Connecting Canadians - Digital Canada 150 (CCDC 150) in the blogentry of 22 Jul 2014.  I mentioned at that time there were two components to CCDC 150 - a rural component and a northern component.

Today, 26 Aug 2014, the Prime Minister announced significant financial support to provide upgraded high-speed Internet access to approximately 12,000 households in Nunavut and the Nunavik region of northern Quebec.

There seems to be two versions of the announcement with only minor differences. In the one I refer to as Version A, identified in web address as "pm-announces…" [sic] there is no reference to monetary amounts. In Version B, identified as "connecting-canadian-fundings" [sic] the amount of $50 Million is committed. This about one-sixth of the total $305 Million allotted in the CCDC150 funding envelope.  

Under the CCDC150 guidelines as addressed in the website FAQs , the program will fund up to 50 percent of eligible project costs for rural areas and 75 percent for Aboriginal communities. The same guidelines also state, "Within each component, there will be no pre-determined regional allocations" so more funds may be provided to the Northern component. There is no clear definition of what constitutes a rural area or an Aboriginal community.

Fund recipients in both rural and northern components can "stack" funds from other sources such as other levels of government and in specific cases from other federal departments and funding programs.

The major difference between the northern and rural components is the target download speed. For the northern component, it is 3-5 Mbps; for the rural component, it is 5 Mbps. As noted in this blog entry, without a firm sustained speed target or a predetermined measurement standard, this is a rather meaningless target. 

Bell Now Taking Deferral Account Sign Ups 22 Aug 2014 (Updated Phone Number 28 Aug 2014)

I signed up for the Bell Deferral Account service this morning.

Residents of addresses eligible to participate in the Deferral Account program will be notified via a direct mail campaign delivered to the users mail address. If you live within the boundaries shown on these maps you are potentially eligible. While there is nothing on the bell website as of this writing, if you are interested in getting set-up, call  1-866 -724-9452.

(Added 28 Aug 14 - Another number may be 1-888-466-2453. See comment by Michelle at 2:10 pm below.)

The trade name for the Deferral Account plan is Bell 5 Internet (not to be confused with Bell Fibe Internet 5). I dealt with an agent named Lucy. It took her a few minutes to find the information but in the end she was very helpful:  

Here are the details:   

a.  $37.95 per month for Bell Bundle customers

·         $41.95 per month for Bell 5 internet only

b.    Speed: 5 Mbps download and 800 kbps upload.

c.    Turbo Hub is model 4G LTE Netgear MBR 1516: frequencies handled are   700/850/1900/2100 MHz. There is a one-time charge (OTC) of $79.95 with a 2 year contract or $199.95 without a contract.

d.    Basic usage is 20 GB usage per month

e.    There are 2 overages options :

1. Regular rate is $2.50 per GB for maximum of $80.00; or

2. Insurance: for $5.00 per month get an extra 25 GB for a total of 45 GB for $42.95 (bundle) or $46.95 (no bundle)

f.     The set-up requires an external antenna installed as part of the basic price.

The data hub will be mailed out by Canada Post and an antenna installer will contact the user to arrange the install.

What Does a 5 Mbps Target Really Mean

Connecting Canadians is one of the five pillars of the federal government's Digital Canada 150 plan announced on 22 Jul 2014. 

A main objective within the Connecting Canadian pillar is to ensure 98% of all Canadians will have access to high-speed Internet at 5 Mbps. As presented in the government paper the blog entry the day of the announcement, this is a rather meaningless statement as no measurement standard for the 5 Mbps is used

In the blog entry of 29 Jan 2012 entitled What Mobile Speeds Really Mean I discussed the three different ways mobile data speed can be measured: - Theoretical Maximum, Vendors Advertised Speed, and Actual Speeds Available to the User.  If I were writing the article today, I might be inclined to add a fourth category, namely, Speed Identified in a Government Funding Program.  

While the original item was directed at Mobile (Cellular) systems, the same three classifications can be applied to terrestrial (cable and DSL), fixed wireless and satellite.

The problem with public Internet connectivity networks is that most of them operate as a shared networks as some point.[1] Based on a net neutrality model, this means that all the active users are sharing all the available bandwidth simultaneously.[2] Assuming a fixed bandwidth model, say 5 Mbps, this means that as the number of active users increase, the amount of bandwidth available to service each active user decreases. Eventually the network reaches the point where it collapses under its own weight.  

This phenomenon is most likely to occur during the peak usage period, some times referred to as the rush hour. While the busy period can vary from location to location, the industry generally accepts the period of weeknights between 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm local time.[3]

Should we allow an ISP to state a 5 Mbps speed if it cannot deliver anywhere near that speed during the peak usage period? I say no.

The US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has been tracking the real speed provided by US Internet Service Providers (ISP). They have come up with the terms "Advertised Speeds' as used by the ISPs to market their product and "Sustained Speed" which is designed to describe a long term average for broadband (high-speed Internet). The FCC study concludes that speeds can only be stated as speeds obtained during the peak usage period.

Researchers at North Carolina State University (NCSU) developed a method of measurement that allows for a base metric. The NCSU system is based on a metric designed to convey how likely any given consumer is to experience broadband speeds of a particular level. The key to the system is the percentage of users receiving a percentage of the advertised speed. This results in numerical score.

The first step is to identify a target level based on the formula:  percentage of users for percentage of the time during peak hours.  Targets levels are expressed as 80/80 [4] where 80 percent of the users get 80 percent of the advertised speed in a fixed period. FCC has been using the 80/80 target level.

This information is monitored by special routers install at the user location and reported to the FCC. An example of final calculation might be 78% of user met the threshold target of 90/90.  This ISP would be rated as 78%. The ISP could raise the score by increasing the bandwidth available during peak hours. However, it would still only be able to advertise a speed of 78% of 5 Mbps until they met or exceeded 100%.

As part o the FCC study, there were ISPs delivering service in excess of 100%, i.e. they consistently delivered speeds in excess of those contracted. The highest rated was the satellite service Exede while the most of the others were fibre optic based.

The Digital 150 plan needs to adopt an approach similar to the FCC. Allowing an ISP to say they are delivering 5 Mbps while actually providing about 20% of that speed to the majority of users is not good enough.

A good start would be the use of the term "sustained speed" as the 5 Mbps target speed.

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[1] While most people have experienced cellular site congestion at the local level, recent studied have indicated that major congestion also occurs at Tier 1 peering points which would affect all type of networks. 
[2] There are network controls available that can adjust access and assign priority to selected users. Some, such as Quality of Service (QoS) that assign priority to real-time applications like VoIP are acceptable. Others, such as "throttling" violate net neutrality concepts or are frowned upon.

[3] There is also anecdotal evidence in the Algoma District that the peak usage period closely follows the hours students are out of school including weekends.

[4] Any threshold ratio can be used such as 70/70 or 90/90. The lower the ratio, the more likely a higher score will be achieved. 

Federal Connecting Canadians Program

The Federal government has released details about its latest attempt to increase broadband (high-speed Internet) coverage in rural and remote of Canada.  

Industry Canada calls the program Connecting Canadians - Digital Canada 150 (CCDC150) The 150 refers to the sesquicentennial in 2017 of the Canadian Confederation.  

The overall program website touts a number of recent and ongoing programs but this blog entry will only comment on the broadband (high-speed Internet) aspects of the program. In addition, I based these comments on an initial review of the site and I am sure additional details will become available over the coming days and weeks.

It appears the CCDC150 signals a change of policy from previous federal funding programs. In the CCDC150 approach, the federal government will deal directly with private sector Internet Service Providers (ISP). In the past, the government has dealt through "champion" intermediaries such as municipalities, not-for-profit (NFP) organizations, and community based networks (CBN) or innovations centres. For the most part, they tried to stay at arms length from the private sector ISPs. There are separate sections on the website for "Canadian and Communities" and "ISPs".

Another change from previous programs is there is no direct tie-in to provincial programs.  NOHFC still has a number of program that have a technology theme and it might be possible for some of he conventional champions to work with the  private sector ISPs which could result in some form of stacked funding - provincial on top of federal - as seen in the past.

The heart of the CCDC150 program is $305 million of federal funding. I find the wording on the  how and when they will spend the funds a bit confusing so I will quote from the website:-

  "From the launch of Connecting Canadians in summer 2014 until 2017, the Government of Canada will invest up to $305 million over five years to extend high-speed Internet service to 280,000 households in rural and remote regions of the country that currently have slower or no Internet access."[1]

The program defines broadband (high-speed Internet) as 5Mbps (assumed to be download speed). When the program is completed, "98% of Canadian households will have access to at least 5 Mbps."

The program does not place any restrictions on the technologies that the ISPs can or cannot use.  The ISPs are free to propose terrestrial (cable or copper) wireless (mobile or fixed), satellite or any combination there of.

The website states CCDC150 has two major geographical areas called components; "a rural component that will expand high-speed Internet service to rural and remote areas across Canada and a northern component that will extend and augment capacity in northern communities in Nunavut and the Nunavik region of Quebec."

There are other details, many of which are positive but in my opinion, there are a number of omissions in the public documentation to date.

Perhaps the most glaring is the complete lack of reference to any prices or monthly costs to the end user. We now have enough experience with mobile wireless broadband (high-speed Internet) data hubs to know that the monthly fees are close to unaffordable to  an average rural family.

There is also no mention of how, when, and by whom the 5 Mbps is measured and confirmed. In addition will the ISPs have to provide a consistent 5 mbps or better speed regardless of the number of users on-line at the same time. Again, we have enough experience with wireless Internet (Mobile, fixed and satellite) to know that network congestion makes the systems close to unusable at peak hours i.e. 4:00 PM to midnight.

I will be returning to this subject matter over the coming days.

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[1] $305 million works out to $1080.00 per household. 

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.