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Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2006-3
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Ottawa, 6 February 2006 |
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Regulatory issues related to the implementation of wireless number
portability
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Reference: 8620-C12-200601288 |
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In this Public Notice, the Commission
invites comments on issues related to wireless number portability
between wireless carriers and between those carriers and wireline local
exchange carriers. |
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Background
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1. |
The Commission's three-year work plans,
issued in 2004 and 2005, indicated that the issue of wireless number
portability (WNP) would be considered by the Commission during the
2005-2006 fiscal year. The Budget Plan tabled in Parliament on 23
February 2005 indicated the Government of Canada's preference that the
Commission move expeditiously to implement WNP. |
2. |
On 21 April 2005, the Canadian Wireless
Telecommunications Association (CWTA) announced that Canada's wireless
carriers had agreed to implement WNP. To that end, the CWTA engaged
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) to conduct an independent review and
provide an implementation plan that could be used by the wireless
industry to implement WNP. The CWTA presented PwC's implementation
report (PwC Report)1
to the Commission for information on 12 September 2005 and noted in its
covering letter that it supported PwC's conclusions. The PwC Report
included a description of the regulatory issues that PwC felt would have
to be resolved prior to the implementation of WNP. |
3. |
In Implementation of wireless number
portability, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2005-14,
16 September 2005, as amended by Implementation of wireless
number portability, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 2005-14-1,
6 October 2005 (Public Notice 2005-14),
the Commission invited comments on modifying the then-current regulatory
regime so that wireless carriers could directly port telephone numbers.
The Commission considered that dealing expeditiously with several
issues identified in the Public Notice would permit WNP to be implemented
at the earliest possible date. The Commission also noted that a number
of other issues related to WNP would be considered in a future proceeding. |
4. |
In Implementation of wireless number
portability, Telecom Decision CRTC 2005-72,
20 December 2005 (Decision2005-72),
the Commission rendered its determinations on issues that required
resolution for the implementation of WNP to get underway. For example,
it granted wireless carriers direct access to the Canadian number
portability systems, determined that the service porting interval
for wireless-to-wireless simple porting be 2.5 hours and for intermodal
porting2
would be the current local exchange carrier (LEC)-to-LEC porting interval,
finalized the scenarios for porting involving wireless carriers, and
set the dates by which WNP must be implemented, commencing in
British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec by 14 March 2007. |
5. |
In this Public Notice, the Commission
launches a process to resolve the remaining WNP implementation issues. |
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Scope of the proceeding
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6. |
The Commission invites comments on the
following issues: |
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(a) the trunking arrangements for the
interchange of traffic between wireless carriers and LECs in a
portability environment; |
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(b) the need for wireless carriers to have
a central office (CO) code in every wireline exchange area where
wireless service is available; |
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(c) shared CO codes where the carrier of
record is an incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC); |
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(d) the wireless services subject to number
porting; |
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(e) the criteria for denying a wireless
porting request; |
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(f) the applicability of ILEC winback rules
for customers whose numbers are ported between wireless carriers and
ILECs; |
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(g) wireless carrier access to ILECs'
operational support systems (OSS); |
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(h) directory listing information for
numbers ported between wireless carriers and LECs; |
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(i) Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) customer
information for numbers ported between wireless carriers and LECs; and |
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(j) any other regulatory issues related to
the implementation of WNP. |
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A. The trunking arrangements for the interchange of traffic between
wireless carriers and LECs in a portability environment
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7. |
The Commission notes that wireless carriers
have extensive service coverage areas without having points of
interconnection (POIs) in many wireline exchange areas. Also, wireless
carriers may have their POIs in different ILEC exchanges for the same or
similar service coverage areas. These differences in network
architecture raise the issue of the extent to which calls to ported
telephone numbers may be routed to POIs located outside of exchanges
associated with ported telephone numbers. |
8. |
In Decision 2005-72,
the Commission finalized the porting scenarios for wireless porting
activities between Canadian carriers. In that Decision, the Commission
determined that ported telephone numbers must remain associated with
their original rate centres for rating purposes, while calls to ported
telephone numbers could be routed to switches or POIs located outside
of the exchange area associated with a ported telephone's rate centre. |
9. |
The Commission notes that there are many
different options as to how routing for aggregated exchanges and POIs
can be accomplished. Two possible examples are (1) in accordance with
the local interconnection regions established in Trunking arrangements
for the interchange of traffic and the point of interconnection between
local exchange carriers, Telecom Decision CRTC 2004-46,
14 July 2004 (Decision 2004-46
and (2) by local calling areas as suggested in the proceeding initiated
by Public Notice 2005-14. |
10. |
The Commission invites comments as to the
appropriate grouping of rate centres/exchanges to be used for the
interchange of traffic in a portability environment, and the trunking
arrangements or POIs that should be used for these exchange groupings. |
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B. Need for wireless carriers to have a CO code in every wireline
exchange area where wireless service is available
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11. |
In Local competition, Telecom Decision
CRTC 97-8, 1 May 1997,
the Commission required that competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs)
obtain a CO code for each exchange in which they provide service.
This requirement permitted the unique identification of each exchange
in which CLECs offered local exchange service, and the creation of
a location routing number (LRN) and a POI in each exchange where a
CLEC offered local exchange service in a number portability environment.
However, with Decision 2004-46,
POIs are no longer required in each exchange as traffic can be aggregated
to a POI serving a number of exchanges in a local interconnection
region (LIR). |
12. |
The Commission notes that wireless carriers
do not have CO codes and POIs in each exchange covered by their wireless
service networks. If wireless carriers were required to obtain CO codes
for each exchange covered by their networks there could be, among other
things, a significant increase in the demand for CO codes that could
potentially cause premature number exhaust in some numbering plan areas
(NPAs). |
13. |
The Commission invites comments on the
requirement for wireless carriers to obtain a CO code in each exchange
covered by their wireless service networks in order to support WNP. |
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C. Shared CO codes where the carrier of record is an ILEC
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14. |
In the past, wireless carriers obtained
telephone numbers from ILECs with whom they were interconnected in order
to access the public switched telephone network. These numbers were
obtained under Commission-approved ILEC tariffs and they were available
in blocks of 1, 10, 100 or 1,000 numbers. The carrier of record for
these numbers in both the NPAC SMS3
and the CNA4
databases is the ILEC from which the number blocks were obtained. |
15. |
With WNP this arrangement will result in a
porting request to the wrong carrier in that it will go to the ILEC who
is the carrier of record. This will require an ILEC to either act as a
conduit for the porting information (similar to reseller porting) or
forward the porting request to the correct wireless carrier. In either
case, additional effort and time will be required by the receiving ILEC
and the required porting interval may not be met. |
16. |
The Commission invites comments as to how
this problem should be overcome. For instance, should the telephone
number blocks in question be migrated to the wireless provider to whom
the telephone number blocks were assigned, and, if so, how should this
process be accomplished? |
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D. Wireless services subject to number porting
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17. |
The PwC Report suggested that wireless
services subject to number portability should be limited to dialable
two-way, real-time voice communications, such as cellular, personal
communications, and enhanced specialized mobile radio including
push-to-talk services. As well, the PwC Report recommended that
telephone numbers associated with post-paid and pre-paid services should
be included. |
18. |
The Commission invites comments as to which
wireless services should be subject to WNP. |
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E. Criteria for denying a wireless porting request
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19. |
In the proceeding initiated by Public Notice
2005-14, some interested parties
submitted that there may be some instances where wireless service
providers (WSPs) should be permitted to deny customers' requests to
port their wireless numbers to another service provider. |
20. |
The Commission invites comments as to
whether WSPs should be permitted to deny customers' requests to port
their wireless numbers and, if so, under what circumstances should the
porting requests be denied, and what process should apply. |
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F. The applicability of ILEC winback rules for customers whose
numbers are ported between wireless carriers and ILECs
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21. |
In a Letter Decision dated 16 April 1998,
the Commission put in place rules prohibiting the ILECs from
communicating with former customers for the purpose of winning them back
once they transferred to another LEC. In subsequent decisions,5
the Commission has clarified or changed the ILEC winback rules. |
22. |
In the proceeding initiated by Public Notice
2005-14, some interested parties
suggested that the ILEC winback restrictions for customers moving
to CLECs should be extended to customers moving to wireless carriers. |
23. |
The Commission invites comments on whether
or not the ILEC winback rules should be extended to customers moving to
wireless carriers. |
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G. Wireless carrier access to ILECs' OSS
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24. |
In Competitive local exchange carrier
access to incumbent local exchange carrier operational support systems,
Telecom Decision CRTC 2005-14,
16 March 2005, the Commission instructed Bell Canada and TELUS Communications
Inc. (TCI) to develop and implement CLEC access to certain aspects
of their OSS within one year. Other ILECs were to provide CLEC access
to their OSS when requested, by signing an agreement. |
25. |
The PwC Report suggested that wireless
carriers should have access to the ILECs' OSS in order to minimize any
customer information errors on requests to port telephone numbers
from ILECs. |
26. |
The Commission invites comments as to
whether ILECs should be required to permit wireless carriers to access
their OSS, and, if so, to what extent and under what terms and
conditions. |
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H. Directory listing information for numbers ported between wireless
carriers and LECs
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27. |
Wireline customers' telephone numbers are
included in ILEC telephone directories at no charge, unless customers
specifically request that their telephone numbers not be listed.
Typically, the ILECs' tariffs include a charge for non-published
numbers. On the other hand, wireless customers' telephone numbers are
not included in ILEC telephone directories unless wireless customers
specifically request that their telephone numbers be included in a
telephone directory. The ILECs' tariffs typically include a charge to
list a wireless number in their telephone directories. Wireless carriers
will generally pass this charge through to their customers. Thus, in
intermodal porting situations, customers will be faced with different
telephone directory listing rules and, potentially, unexpected charges. |
28. |
The Commission invites comments as to how
telephone directory listings should be handled for intermodal porting
situations. |
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I. E9-1-1 customer information for numbers ported between wireless
carriers and LECs
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29. |
Due to the mobile nature of wireless service,
the customer information associated with telephone numbers in the
E9-1-1 Automatic Location Identifier (ALI) database can be different
for wireline and wireless telephone numbers. As well, in Conditions
of service for wireless competitive local exchange carriers and for
emergency services offered by wireless service providers, Telecom
Decision CRTC 2003-53,
12 August 2003, as amended by Conditions of service for wireless
competitive local exchange carriers and for emergency services offered
by wireless service providers, Telecom Decision CRTC 2003-53-1,
25 September 2003, the Commission determined that wireless CLECs should
continue to be obligated to implement wireless E9-1-1 where it was
available and found that it would not be appropriate to continue to
require wireless CLECs to enter subscriber records in ALI databases.
The Commission also determined that WSPs were to provide wireless
E9-1-1 service to their customers in those communities where it was
available from an ILEC. |
30. |
The Commission invites comments as to what
customer information should be included in the E9-1-1 databases for
intermodal porting situations, and any related changes to database
update procedures. |
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J. Other regulatory issues related to the implementation of WNP
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31. |
The Commission invites comments on any
other regulatory issues related to the implementation of WNP that
interested parties may wish to bring to the attention of the Commission. |
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Procedure
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32. |
Aliant Mobility, Aliant Telecom Inc., Bell
Canada, Bell Mobility, Bruce Telecom, the CWTA, Cogeco Cable Canada
Inc., EastLink, ExaTel Inc., FCS Broadband, Globility Communications
Corporation, ISP Telecom Inc., Maskatel inc., MTS Allstream Inc.,
MTS Mobility, Rogers Cable Communications Inc., Rogers Wireless,
Saskatchewan Telecommunications, SaskTel Mobility, Sogetel Mobilité,
TBayTel Mobility, Télébec Mobilité, TCI, TELUS Mobility and Vidéotron
Télécom ltée are all made parties to this proceeding. |
33. |
Other parties wishing to participate in
this proceeding are required to notify the Commission of their intention
to do so by 14 February 2006 (the registration date) and to
provide their contact information. They are required to do so by
contacting the Secretary General by mail at CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A
0N2, by fax at (819) 994-0218, or by e-mail at
procedure@crtc.gc.ca. They are
to indicate in the notice their e-mail address where available. If such
parties do not have access to the Internet, they are to indicate in
their notice whether they wish to receive disk versions of hard copy
filings. |
34. |
The Commission will issue on its web site,
as soon as possible after the registration date, a complete list of
parties and their mailing address (including their e-mail address, if
available) identifying those parties who wish to receive disk versions. |
35. |
All parties may file comments with the
Commission on any matter within the scope of this proceeding by 27
February 2006, serving a copy on all parties by that date. |
36. |
All parties may file reply comments with
the Commission, serving a copy on all other parties by 6 March 2006. |
37. |
The Commission will not formally
acknowledge comments. It will, however, fully consider all comments and
they will form part of the public record of the proceeding. |
38. |
Where a document is to be filed or served
by a specific date, the document must be actually received, not merely
sent, by that date. |
39. |
Parties can file their submissions
electronically or on paper. Submissions longer than five pages should
include a summary. Each paragraph of your submission should be numbered. |
40. |
Where the submission is filed by electronic
means, the line ***End of document*** should be entered following the
last paragraph, as an indication that the document has not been damaged
during electronic transmission. |
41. |
The Commission also encourages all parties
to monitor the record of this proceeding (and/or the Commission's web
site) for additional information that they may find useful when
preparing their submissions. |
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Important notice
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42. |
Note that all information that you provide
as part of this public process, except information granted
confidentiality, whether sent by postal mail, facsimile, e-mail or
through the Commission's web site at www.crtc.gc.ca, becomes part of a
publicly accessible file and will be posted on the Commission's web
site. This information includes your personal information, such as your
full name, e-mail address, postal/street address, telephone and
facsimile number(s), and any other personal information you provide. |
43. |
Documents received electronically or
otherwise will be put on the Commission's web site in their entirety
exactly as you send them, including any personal information contained
therein, in the official language and format in which they are received.
Documents not received electronically will be available in PDF format. |
44. |
The personal information you provide will
be used and may be disclosed for the purpose for which the information
was obtained or compiled by the Commission, or for a use consistent with
that purpose. |
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Location of CRTC offices
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45. |
Submissions may be examined or will be made
available promptly upon request at the Commission offices during normal
business hours: |
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Central Building
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
1 Promenade du Portage, Room 206
Gatineau, Quebec J8X 4B1
Tel: (819) 997-2429 - TDD: 994-0423
Fax: (819) 994-0218 |
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Metropolitan Place
99 Wyse Road, Suite 1410
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B3A 4S5
Tel: (902) 426-7997 - TDD: 426-6997
Fax: (902) 426-2721 |
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205 Viger Avenue West, Suite 504
Montréal, Quebec H2Z 1G2
Tel: (514) 283-6607 |
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55 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 624
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1M2
Tel: (416) 952-9096 |
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Kensington Building
275 Portage Avenue, Suite 1810
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2B3
Tel: (204) 983-6306 - TDD: 983-8274
Fax: (204) 983-6317 |
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Cornwall Professional Building
2125 - 11th Avenue, Suite 103
Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 3X3
Tel: (306) 780-3422 |
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10405 Jasper Avenue, Suite 520
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N4
Tel: (780) 495-3224 |
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580 Hornby Street, Suite 530
Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3B6
Tel: (604) 666-2111 - TDD: 666-0778
Fax: (604) 666-8322 |
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Secretary General |
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This document is available in alternative
format upon request, and may also be examined in PDF
format or in HTML at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca
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