Still No News On North Sault Area

TBayTel informed me at noon on 24 Jun 10 there was still no news on any of the points raised on Tuesday. The issues were taken to senior management but responses have not yet trickled down. 

TBay Tel Regional In-Fill (RIF) News 22 June 10

I took part in a lengthy teleconference with TBayTel personnel on Monday, 21 Jun 10. Areas of concern were :

a. Delays in commissioning of the Heyden cell and broadband site;
b. Why the availability of broadband off the Batchawana site is still not available four weeks after the broadband equipment was declared operational;
c. Why a potential customer was charged $95.00 for a site signal check when the TBayTel web site clearly states there will be no charge if there is no signal;
d. Deployment schedule for remainder of sites in the Algoma District portion of the RIF: Goulais, Flour Bay, Carp River and Michipicoten;
e. Lack of TBayTel generated information; and
f.  TBayTel and Rogers HSPA overlay status

 

A. A technical dispute between TBayTel and Allstream about mounting backhaul and broadband equipment on the Bellevue tower is delaying the activation of the Heyden site. The companies’ structural engineers are not in agreement over hardware loads and mounting hardware. No new due date was provided.

B. The network managers could not explain why the Batchawana site was not actively connecting customers. There was a suspicion that it may have something to do with consolidating enough requests to make the dispatch of a technical to the area economical. TBayTel will get back to me with additional information.

C. TBayTel agreed that the website would indicate there is no charge for a site visit. The normal procedure is to do an assessment of service availability at a location using frequency mapping software in association with Google Earth. If the signal is charted as good or marginal, a technician is dispatched at no charge. If a customer insists on a site visit after being told it not likely a signal can be received in the area, then a charge is levied if no signal is received. 

D. The target date to finish the reaming sites is 31 Dec 2010. The Goulais site has been selected at Buttermilk Resort and the necessary consultative processes are now in progress. The other three sites have not been finalized.

E. TBayTel admitted the information and publicity on the service was not very good and would take action to improve in this area.

F. Work on the HSPA overlay has already started in the western end of the network and should be available in the Algoma District in the fall of 2010. The CDMA (Bell/Telus) will be continued for the foreseeable future.

 

TBayTel promised to provide some follow on information and this will be posted as it is received.

Bell Deferral Account Proposal

 

Bell Aliant submitted a Deferral Account implementation package on 15 Jan 10 as requested by the CRTC on 25 Sep 09. It was published on the CRTC website on 20 Jan 10 and a copy is attached. Bell Aliant is proposing to serve the designated Deferral Account area by means of it High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology. This wireless based broadband (high speed Internet) service will make use of the Bell cellular infrastructure but will be a separate service offering with its own tariff. Known as Retail Wireless Broadband Service, Bell Aliant is asking the CRTC for approval of the following rate structure:

 

Monthly Rate - $31.95
Download Speed - Up to 2Mbps
Upload Speed - Up to 800Kbps
Monthly Usage Allowance - 2 Gigabytes (GB)
Charge for Additional Usage - $2.50/GB
One-Time Activation Fee - $35
Hardware - No charge
Term – Monthly

Included Services

5 e-mail addresses
Web-based mail
Connection Manager software
Basic Security services
Online storage (5MB)

The service will be billed one month in advance with a 30-day cancellation notice period. 

 

This rate structure will only apply to the Deferral Account home area of the user. Access outside the users’ home area will be billed at the normal Bell tariff rates.

 

Unlike the other carriers’ submission, the Bell Aliant submission did not include a detailed implementation schedule. Bell Aliant indicated they would provide the detailed schedule on 26 Feb 10. Their reasoning was they needed CRTC approval of the tariff before setting the schedule.

 

While a bit of surprise, a cursory review indicates that the proposal meets all the prerequisites of the CRTC Deferral Account decision. The greatest advantage is that it can be activated in many areas quickly after CRTC approval. Doubtlessly some Deferral Account areas will require the construction of additional access points but this should be made clear in the 28 Feb 10 submission.

Comments on a Telcom Dispatch Article

I submitted the following rebuttal to a  Fox Group Media article which implied that HSPA cellular service would solve numerous problems in rural areas.

 

Ms. Fox:

I wish to take issue with some of the comments in the Telcom Dispatch Issue 53, December 19, 2009 article entitled “Converging Environments in the Wireless Worlds.” I find some of the points misleading.

 

I am a resident of rural Canada, specifically the Algoma Distinct of northern Ontario, that only has spotty 1X CDMA service and very little likelihood of getting anything else in the near future In spite of owning spectrum for nearly two decades, none of the national vendors provide cellular service in the area except along the Hwy 17 corridor between Sault Ste. Marie (SSM) and Sudbury. If you are travelling along the Trans-Canada forget about using your HSPA or GSM phone after leaving SSM until you travel the 700 km plus to Thunder Bay (TB). Depending on the route taken, you may receive intermittent service between TB and the Manitoba border.

 

TBayTel, with assistance from the provincial government (Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation) and the federal government (FedNor), has done a fantastic job in providing the service we have and their Regional in Fill (RIF) project targeted for completion in 2010 will enhance their CDMA service along the Trans-Canada highway corridor. However, numerous coverage gaps will exist especially on the alternate major highways. As of this writing, TBayTel has not made public any plans to install a HSPA/GSM overlay on their network.

 

While past articles in the Telcom Dispatch have been critical of government subsidies for rural areas, I think most commentators have ignored the fact that the cellular services provided benefit all Canadians that use the road networks across the area. As the article rightly notes, robust Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is an essential part of Economic Development (ED). As a fringe player in the ED arena, the first questions I am usually asked by potential clients concern the availability of cellular and broadband (high speed Internet) service. If an area does not have at one of them, the client quickly moves on.

 

Two areas that should be of concern to all but seldom get mentioned are safety and the environment. The north is an area of great distances. In the winter, the roads can be very dangerous. There are numerous examples of instances where cellular coverage has saved lives. Also, but using ICT, the need for travel and the associated pollution and carbon emissions can be reduced.

 

One of the myths being perpetuated is that HSPA will provide broadband (high speed Internet) to rural and remote areas. On the technical side, this might be true - if the service was available. The same reasons that make it uneconomical to roll-out IP enabled cable services and telco based ADSL broadband (high speed Internet) also apply to the roll-out of cellular services. This is one of the reasons cellular service is only available along major highways and in urban population centres. In a number of cases, where HSPA service is available, terrestrial based broadband (high speed Internet) systems are also available so there is not a lot of net gain.

 

However, the biggest draw back to the use of HSPA as a broadband (high speed Internet) alternative is the cost. People in the area who have used the HSPA or EV-DO option have often been shocked when they receive the first bill.  The current data plan caps in the 5 GB range are not realistic for a business operator or even a family with active teenagers. When the user reaches the cap, the cost per kilobit rises dramatically. The new entrant also seems to think 5 GB is just fine.

 

An alternate finding some acceptance in the area is point-to-multipoint (P-MP) wireless systems. Users appear willing to trade throughput for reasonable costs. Unfortunately, the many technical restrictions of P-MP may make it a short term stop gap. Many of the systems available will not exceed a download of 4 Mbps and most are restricted to 1.5 Mbps; unfortunately, this is the minimum service requirements under the Broadband Canada program.

 

In closing, I want to mention satellite “broadband” service. While it is available to all who can afford the initial outlay, it is not really a substitute. I speak from experience as a long time user. While it is better than dial-up, any application requiring a low latency cannot operate satisfactorily over the existing public satellite services. I have not met a user yet that is satisfied with satellite service, myself included.

 

P.S. I have attached a map I often use when trying to explain the distances involved in the north. It is often very humorous to watch the reaction. It shows an outline of the Algoma District overlaid on southern Ontario; both are the same scale.

 

New Cellular Entrants

 

There has been a lot of hype recently about the entry into the marketplace of new cellular telephone companies. Pundits and others on the blogosphere touted their anticipated arrival  as a potentially great day for the Canadian consumer as it would teach the big three - Bell, Rogers and Telus - a lesson in humility.

Globealive, operating as Wind Mobile, was the first new entrant off the mark. After a careful perusal of their website and as a rural northern Ontario resident, I was not impressed.

If you live in a Wind Home Zone and expect to use you cell phone to talk within that zone or another Wind Home Zone, it is probably a very good alternative to the existing carriers. At the time of writing, only the Toronto and Calgary Home Zones were operational with a promise of more zones in Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton in 2010. More cities will follow in the out years.

Anything outside a Home Zone is an Away Zone. Since Wind Mobile uses the same GSM/HSPA technology as Rogers and has a roaming agreement with them, the Away Zone coverage mimics the Rogers coverage map. This means that there is no coverage along the Trans-Canada Highway from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay  or Thunder Bay to the Manitoba border. The same applies to most of the length of Highway 101 from Wawa to Timmins. There are small pockets of third tier GSM availability across the north if Wind Mobile has executed roaming agreements with them. 

Wind Mobile does have consumer friendly features. The most noticeable is that it does not require a customer to sign a 1-3 year contract. One is free to join or leave the network as will and without a penalty.  The trade off for this is that Wind Mobile does not subsidize the initial cost of the phone. Wind Mobile's initial offering consists of four options ranging in price from a high of $450.00 for a BlackBerry to a low of $130.00 for a Huawei U7519. The consumer must pay this up front. It also offers a data stick for $150.00. It is unclear if the hardware is "locked".

Wind Mobile does not charge the most hated of add-on fees - the network access fee or a clone of it. It offers three fixed rate plans which are extremely reasonable if a few principles are adhered to. First and most importantly, never leave the Wind Mobile home network. Once the you are outside a Wind Home Zone or not calling another Wind Mobile subscriber, roaming charges, - or AWAY Minute in Wind Mobile speak - are $.25 per minute for voice. There are a number other charges for different off-net scenarios. I suspect there will be some surprise when the early adopters get their first bill.

If one lives and works in a Wind Mobile Home Zone, it is probably a very good product. Unfortunately, there is little direct advantage for anywhere in the District except East Algoma where for a price Wind Mobile could roam on the Rogers network. In directly, the new entrant might put enough pressure on the incumbents to meet or beat the competition.

TBayTel Presentation at the Regional Mayors Group 04 Nov 09

Senior management from TBayTel attended the Regional Mayors Group (RMG) meeting in Wawa on Wednesday, 04 Nov 09. The team of Simone Laatu and Barry Streib touched on a number of issues raised by the mayors and other regional residents.

They centred their remarks on three main areas:

a. Cellular problems in specific communities;

b. The Regional Fill-in Project (RIF)

c. Future technology

TBayTel is very aware of recent service problems in Chapleau, Hornepayne and Manitouwadge. Ms. Laatu assured the RMG that the problem was not the cell site itself but rather the radio backhaul links that provide the connectivity from the individual cell site to the switching centre in Thunder Bay. The current system is being upgraded as part of the RIF. There is major rebuild in the works for the Manitouwadge site as a result of TBayTel’s involvement with medical IT network services.

A secondary issue is the different hardware that is installed at various points in the network. Much of the eastern part of the TBayTel cellular network was installed by Superior Wireless Inc (SWI) prior to their acquisition by TBayTel. This resulted in the existence of two different hardware platforms, which in turn resulted in differences in how some long distance calls are handled at the handset level. The hardware difference also causes issues with the customer billing system. TBayTel is actively rationalizing all sites to a single hardware manufacturer.

The RIF program covers all parts of the TBayTel network. The project involves the establishment of new cellular sites, wireless broadband (high speed Internet) and a major upgrade to the backhaul systems as noted above. The program concentrates on the King’s highways corridors and it partially funded by NOHFC and FedNor. It is anticipate that most of the backhaul work will be completed in the Algoma District by the end of 2009 and customers should notice the difference in call quality for the troubled areas.

TBayTel assured the mayors that they were aware of the recent changes in the Bell Mobility and Telus wireless networks and were developing plans that would address the issue. They assured the Group that the current network would be in place for the foreseeable future but that in the long term a different technical solution might be developed.

North Sault Broadband Update 30 Oct 09

TBayTel recently provided an update on the broadband deployment for the North Sault area. The latest updates can be viewed at the ADnet website.

The major changes are: Heyden, Batchawana and Hawk Junction delayed until the end of December 09; Searchmont has been moved forward to the end of December 09; and the remainder North Sault sites are scheduled for 4th Quarter 2010.