A New Approach to Data Hub Design

Australia and Canada are often compared when it comes to the roll-out of broadband (high speed) Internet connectivity. Both countries have a relatively small population spread out over a large geographical area. Both countries have a number of urban areas with high population densities as well large swathes of rural areas where population density is measured in single digits per hectare.

The challenge both countries face is how to deploy broadband (high speed) Internet to the rural areas. While both countries have adopted similar technological approaches using a combination of terrestrial fibre and copper cables systems delaying DSL and cable connectivity, mobile (cellular) broadband, traditional fixed wireless and satellite, the management of the challenge couldn't be more different.

Canada opted for private sector leadership and implementation with limited public sector involvement through capital cost public subsidies approximated at between $500 million to $800 million over an estimated 10 years. Government oversight was limited and shared between existing federal ministries and agencies and provincial organizations.  One of the agencies wants every Canadian to have 5 Mbps access by 2015.

Australia opted for a federal government leadership. They created a cabinet level office - Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy - and allotted a $34billion budget. The network being implemented for the government by private industry, including some Canadian companies, is called the National Broadband Network or NBN. The NBN is a wholesale-only, open access, high-speed broadband network.  This means NBN Co Limited – the company established by the government to design, build and operate the NBN – will roll out the network and sell wholesale services at a uniform price to service providers, such as your internet or phone provider. In turn, service providers will offer retail services to the consumers. The target end user speed for the network is 1 Gbps for the terrestrial based portion and 12 Mbps for the wireless and satellite based portions.

Both Australia and Canada are using data hub based technology for covering parts of rural areas.

One of the NBN subcontractors is NetComm, the same company that provides data hubs to Rogers and Tbaytel for their 3G/4G broadband networks.  I received a pointer from Northland Consultants on a new NetComm design concept being offered in support of the NBN.

The NetComm design combines the 3G/4G modem, router, Wi-Fi, high gain antenna and an optional telephone voice jack in a hardened box for mounting in an external location outside the customer's premise. The external electronics are power by a Power over Ethernet (PoE) injector. This means the whole unit is delivered as a single package without the need to purchase an additional antenna  and cables. 

More details are available on the NetComm website. Another approach along similar lines can be seen at another NetComm page.

I am not aware of any vendor offering this hardware configuration in Canada yet but I can see it as a potential solution to the Bell Deferral Account hardware concerns although I am not aware of a similar design by the Bell data hub supplier Netgear. 

CRTC Communications Monitoring Report for 2012

The annual CRTC Communications Monitoring Report for 2012 issued on 04 Sep 2012 is now available for reading and download on the CRTC website.  

This is copy of the Table of Contents from the Report. The Report also contains a large number of charts and maps addressing some of the areas identified in the Table of Contents.

Progress Report on Bell Cell in North Sault 30 Aug 12

Work on the new Bell cell site located near the Beaumont Trailer Park  near Heyden in the North Sault area is progressing well. As can be seen in the accompanying pictures, the tower is topped off and the antennas mounted. It looks like the power and fibre optic backhaul cables are in place.  One picture  shows its relative relationship to the existing Tbaytel tower as viewed from the MTO weigh scale area at Heyden.

The tower can be seen from the intersection of Hwy 17 and Pine Shores Rd. so I am expecting good coverage. 

I have no confirmed in-service date as yet.

Bell Tower at Heyden (Beaumont)

Bell Beaumont Showing Power and Fibre Optic Cable

Bell Beaumont Pinwheel Antennas Mounted

Relationship of the Bell Tower to the Tbaytel Tower

Data Hub Flex Rate Summary 21 Aug 2012

A reader noted that there have been changes to prices in some flex rate data hub plans. He recommended that I publish a summary of current rates to replace the summary updated on 26 Oct 2011. This is the summary from 2011 . Taxes need to be added.

2011

Data Cap	Bell		Rogers		Tbaytel
	Flex Rate	Cost Per GB	Flex Rate	Cost Per GB	Flex Rate	Cost  Per GB
3 GB	$45.00	$15.00	$45.00	$15.00	$35.00	$11.68
5 GB	$55.00	$11.00	$ 55.00	$11.00	$45.00	$9.00
10 GB	$70.00	$7.00	$70.00	$7.00	$60.00	$6.00
15 GB			$90.00	$4.50
20 GB					$75.00	$3.75

These are the current rates based on information posted on the respective websites as of 21 Aug 2012.  

It appears both Bell and Rogers have made minor changes at the 15 GB and 20 GB range while Tbaytel has remained the same.

2012

Data Cap	Bell		Rogers		Tbaytel
	Flex Rate	Cost Per GB	Flex Rate	Cost Per GB	Flex Rate	Cost  Per GB
3 GB	$45.00	$15.00	x	x	$35.00	$11.68
5 GB	$55.00	$11.00	$60.00	$12.00	$45.00	$9.00
10 GB	$70.00	$7.00	$75.00	$7.50	$60.00	$6.00
15 GB	$90.00	$6.00
20 GB			$90.00	$4.50	$75.00	$3.75
Cost Per Extra GB		$15.00		$10.001		$50.00

1.     1. As far as I can determine, Rogers still has the $50.00 maximum for overages charges, They will warn the user about excess usage but only charge the $50.00 limit or $140.00. 

      Telus also has a data hub plan that is very similar to Bell's. I have been unable to find anyone in the Algoma District using a Telus data hub.

Another Bell North Sault Site 18 Aug 12

Bell continues it build out in the North Sault area.  They recently announced public consults for two sites in the SSM area.  One they referenced as Pine St - Northern Avenue area near Sault College in the city; it will be a 34 metre monopole. The other they referenced as GNR - 6th  Line. It will be located to the west of the former Greenbelt Bingo Hall site on Hwy 17 and will be a 70 metre lattice tri-pole similar to those under construction at Heyden (Beaumont) and Goulais (Buttermilk).

There was no in-service date provided but it normally takes 6-9 months after the public consult for construction to start. Therefore I suspect we are looking at the 2013 work plan output.

Like other new Bell sites they will be HSPA+ only (no CDMA). The  new GNR - 6th Line site will also help fill some of the broadband service gaps in the area by making data hub technology available.

Letter to CRTC Reference the Deferral Account Program

I recently submitted a personal  letter to the CRTC expressing my displeasure at the 31 Jul 2012 proposal by Bell to delay implementation of the Deferral Account program in some areas of the Algoma District until August 2012.

I also included a copy of a paper I prepared last year questioning how the HSPA+ data hub service is covering Deferral Account areas and asked for action by the CRTC in light of this coverage. Additional sites that spill over into Deferral Account areas have since been added.

One of the problems in dealing with the CRTC is that unless one is responding to a call for public proceedings that is open, it is not easy to get a complaint or comment into the hands of the CRTC. In the end, I wrote using the same address as Bell used so I shall see what happens.  I am hoping the CRTC is willing to back-up the comments made by CRTC Commissioner  Katz at the Telecom Summit held in Toronto in June this year when he said:

" Broadband service is more and more of a necessity for full participation in the digital economy and in our life as Canadians. The funds were collected over a number of years from Bell subscribers. I urge our friends at Bell to give a higher priority to the needs of the people in these rural and remote communities by accelerating their rollout plans.”

Review of Tim Hortons Wi-Fi Hotspot in Sault Ste. Marie

I tried the new “free” Tim Hortons Wi-Fi hotspot offering  at the Trunk Road location in Sault Ste Marie on Saturday,  11 Aug 12 around 4:30 pm.  I used a Bell Samsung Galaxy S II.

The handset detected the availability of the hotspot immediately and connected. When I opened the browser application, I was offered two choices: - Tim Hortons Wi-Fi Plus and Free Wi-Fi. The former required a registration process involving a name and email address. There is no additional information on the Tim Hortons’ website but other sources state the registration for each device is a one-time requirement and my handset will be recognized when I try to connect in the future.

I was able to access the Internet immediately by selecting the free option but I am not sure if this is available to all users. The hotspot is supplied by Bell and Bell customers get “free” access to a number of “free” networks. Since the “free” networks are available to all users regardless of their home network, I am not sure what Bell is offering their customers except they claim Bell devices are recognized and no password sign-in is required.

I followed the registration for the Wi-Fi Plus option. This required I get access to my e-mail account to acknowledge receipt of the verification message sent by timhortonsverification@datavalet.com . Once I verified the registration, the connection performed well.

I conducted a number of speed tests using Speedtest.net Mobile on both the Wi-Fi connection and a Bell HSPA+ 3G/4G connection with the following average of five results.

Direction	Wi-Fi	HSPA+ 3G/4G
Download	0.60 Mbps	4.62 Mbps
Upload	0.21 Mbps	3.28 Mbps

I am not sure why the Wi-Fi readings were so slow. It may be the system is still being fine-tuned as the publically announced in-service date is Sep 2012. Also, none of the Sault Ste. Marie outlets are listed as Wi-Fi enabled on the main Tim Hortons’ website.

Noted added 01 Sep 12:  I retested the Wi-Fi speeds today and consistently received around 2 Mbps download and about .60 Mbps upload. 

Nevertheless, the access was sufficient to check e-mail and surf a few websites. I had no problem accessing the International bridge camera to check on traffic tailbacks.  I did not try a VoIP call, but the speeds are very close to the limits for acceptable voice quality although the ping times were low in the 50 ms range.

While the service may not be acceptable to the power user, I feel the service will satisfy the basic needs of most users and save valuable bytes from their data plan cap.