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Telecom Circular CRTC 2005-5
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Ottawa, 4 April 2005 |
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Filing of reports on 9-1-1 manual access to the ALI database and on
incumbents' service interruptions to competitors
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Reference:
8661-C12-01/98 and
8657-C12-200500034 |
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Purpose of this circular
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1. |
The purpose of this circular is to reduce the
frequency with which certain large incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs)
and municipalities' Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) file reports
related to PSAP manual accesses to the 9-1-1 Automatic Location
Identification (ALI) database and ILECs' service interruptions to competitors
due to network outages. |
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PSAP reports
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2. |
In 9-1-1 Service - Rates for Wireless Service
Providers, Centrex Customers and Multi-Line Customers/Manual Access to the
Automatic Location Identification Database, Telecom Decision CRTC
99-17, 29 October 1999
(Decision 99-17), the
Commission determined, among other things, that it was in the public interest
to permit PSAPs to have manual access to the ALI database, provided that
appropriate safeguards were put in place to protect confidential customer
information. |
3. |
In Decision
99-17, the Commission directed
BC TEL (now part of TELUS Communications Inc.), TELUS Communications Inc.,
Bell Canada, MTS Communications Inc. (now MTS Allstream), and NBTel Inc. (now
part of Aliant Telecom Inc.) (collectively, the Companies) to provide manual
access to the ALI database for municipalities that request it, subject to
certain conditions to address confidentiality concerns. In this regard, the
Commission required, among other things, that the 9-1-1 agreements between
the Companies and the municipalities require the PSAPs to provide quarterly
reports to the Companies, listing all the manual access requests made to the
ALI database (PSAP reports). The Commission also required the Companies to
file these PSAP reports on a quarterly basis. This directive was extended to
Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel) in Provincial Enhanced 9-1-1
Service, Telecom Decision CRTC
2003-20, 26 March 2003. |
4. |
With the objective of streamlining regulatory
filing requirements, Commission staff proposed, in a letter dated 5 January
2005, that the PSAP reports be filed annually with the Companies, and that,
in turn, the Companies file these reports with the Commission on an annual
rather than a quarterly basis. Commission staff was, however, of the view
that the information on manual access requests made to the 9-1-1 ALI database
would have to remain readily available, in order to ensure that PSAP reports
could be provided when requested by the Commission. |
5. |
The Commission received comments from the
Companies, SaskTel, Globility Communications Corp., and Call-Net Enterprises
Inc. (Call-Net) that supported this proposal. |
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Service interruption reports
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6. |
In Altering terms of service for competitors
that are customers, Order CRTC
2000-397, 12 May 2000 (Order
2000-397), the Commission required that certain telephone companies file
reports on all service outages that affect competitors and that exceed 15
minutes in duration (service interruption reports). This Order applied to the
Companies, as well as Northwestel Inc., Québec-Téléphone, Télébec ltée (now
Société en commandite Télébec), and other independent telephone companies in
Quebec and Ontario, except Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (now
Ontera), Abitibi-Price Inc. (now part of Ontera), Cochrane Public Utilities
Commission (now Cochrane Telecom Services), and Prince Rupert City
Telephones. |
7. |
Presently, these service interruption reports
are filed quarterly with the Commission. |
8. |
With the aim of streamlining regulatory filing
requirements, Commission staff proposed, in a letter dated 5 January 2005,
that the service interruption reports be filed on an annual rather than a
quarterly basis. It was further proposed that the information contained in
these reports remain readily available in order to be produced when requested
by the Commission. |
9. |
The Commission received comments on this
proposal from the Companies, SaskTel, and Call-Net. All parties supported the
proposal. |
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Commission's analysis and determination
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10. |
The Commission notes that the PSAP reports filed
to date have not raised any concerns with respect to the disclosure of
confidential customer information for purposes unrelated to responding to
emergency calls. The Commission therefore considers that it is appropriate to
require that these reports be filed on an annual rather than on a quarterly
basis. |
11. |
Given the importance of PSAP reports as a
safeguard in the protection of confidential customer information, the
Commission is of the view that the Companies and SaskTel should ensure that
the information on manual access requests made to the ALI database remain
readily available in order to provide PSAP reports when requested by the
Commission. |
12. |
The Commission also notes that no concerns have
been raised in the service interruption reports that would justify
maintaining the filing requirements on a quarterly basis. In the Commission's
view, annual reporting coupled with the requirement that the information
contained in the service interruption reports be made available upon request
would serve to streamline filing requirements, while providing the Commission
with the ability to respond to any complaints or problems that may arise.
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13. |
In light of the above, the Commission directs
the Companies and SaskTel to: |
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- file annual PSAP reports for the calendar year 2005 and subsequent
years no later than 31 March of the following year;
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- file, for the Commission's information, amendments to the standard
9-1-1 Agreement with municipalities that reflect the annual filing
requirements;
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- notify those municipalities that have manual access to the 9-1-1
database that they may amend their 9-1-1 agreement to provide for annual
PSAP reports; and
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- make available the information provided in PSAP reports upon request by
the Commission.
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14. |
The Commission also directs the telephone
companies that are subject to Order
2000-397 to: |
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- file annual service interruption reports for the calendar year 2005 and
subsequent years no later than 31 March of the following year; and
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- make available the information provided in service interruption reports
upon request by the Commission.
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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 |