October 2, 2001

To:

CRTC

Secretary General

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2

Sent by Email to: procedure@crtc.gc.ca

Also To:

R.F. Farmer

Vice President Regulatory Matters

Bell Canada, Floor 5

105 Hotel de Ville, Hull, Quebec J8X 4H7

Sent by Email to: bell.regulatory@bell.ca

From:

Frank Tirelli, P.Eng

Telecommunications Technician/ Electrical Engineer

33 Jane Ave, Kingston, Ontario, K7M 3G6

Email: frank.tirelli@sympatico.ca

RE: CRTC Reviewing Rules for Local Telephone Service Prices

Hello,

I noticed the Bell / CRTC article in the newspaper and in a pamphlet

with our Bell phone bill saying that the rules for local telephone

service prices were being reviewed by the CRTC.

I wanted to file some written comments.

I have worked in the competitive telephone industry for a number of

years now and been through four (4) different phone companies already in

my career. I have worked mainly in a technical role, doing

"Translations" which is basically programming the Telephone Switches. I

have also worked as a C.O. Technician for AXXENT in Montreal doing all

sorts of work as the AXXENT Montreal Nortel DMS 500 Switch was built and

as the Montreal co-locations went into service. So far in my career

I’ve worked for Unitel (now AT&T Canada), Fonorola (sold to Sprint

Canada), Sprint Canada (Call Net), and finally AXXENT (formerly Optel

and now Bankrupt).

I have made some observations about the Telephone industry in Canada

gained from my personal experience working on the inside of these

companies.

1. The Canadian Telephone industry is super competitive.

Even to the point of being over competitive. This is creating many

problems for the industry, the telephone companies, their employees and

their customers.

2. The result of this super competition is causing/forcing telephone

companies to make questionable business decisons which are causing

problems for the industry, the company, its employees and its customers.

In the past, competition has been good for the industry and customers

but competition has gone TOO far now and is out of control. Mergers,

Takeovers, Bankruptcies, job losses and layoffs in the telephone

industry are causing all kinds of troubles and sending shock waves all

through the economy.

I am glad to see some attention being brought to the issue of prices by

Bell and the CRTC because it is my opinion that super competition is

causing companies to try and push prices down TOO far TOO fast. Perhaps

even giving away telephone services at a cost LESS than it costs to

provide it ! No business can survive for very long doing that. It

makes NO business sense. It is BAD business. This is causing companies

to slash and burn, and leading to all kinds of upheaval, turmoil and

angst for everyone.

It’s time for the CRTC to place a higher level of regulation on the

telephone industry (including prices)... my opinion.

I will provide some examples of angst, turmoil and upheaval as witnessed

by my Telecom career so far:

In Feb. 1993 I started working in Toronto for Unitel (now AT&T Canada).

I was "on contract" working beside both full time regular employees and

union employees. At times it made for a difficult working situation

being caught in the middle of "union" and "management" trying to do my

job. Unitel never gave me the opportunity to become "full-time". They

made no commitment to me as an employee, and openly stated "we never

promised you that we would ever consider you as a full time employee".

In March 1995 Unitel layed me off along with many others. Unitel was in

debt bad, losing money, and the recession of the early 90’s was not

helping. I was very upset with my layoff and treatment by Unitel at

that time. There is actually alot more to the Unitel story than I

mention here. But at least I got my start at Unitel learning about

switching and "Translations".

I was TWO (2) years "out of work" next. I did courses, ran my own small

landscaping enterprise.

In March 1997 I went to work for Fonorola in Montreal. Did Network

Translations. Fonorola was a great company to work for. Good business,

well run, treated employees well, was doing good things and competing

well. But in the end ...Fonorola "SOLD US OUT" for $$ money. Sprint

Canada made a high offer in the summer of 1999 and Fonorola decided to

accept it. They sold us out and killed a great little company. More

ANGST and Turmoil in the industry.

So Sprint Canada came into Fonorola and trashed the company. Got rid of

many employees, told others "if you don’t find a job with Sprint by

December, your out". What a disaster.

I managed to get a position in Toronto. Sprint proceeded to trash the

Fonorola network and switches. I stayed with Sprint for about a year,

got fed up with Sprint, and accepted a postion with AXXENT, and left

Sprint.

August 1999 started with AXXENT in Montreal. We all worked very very

hard, did well and gained good experience but AXXENT went Bankrupt. All

that hard work for nothing. And then to be rudely thrown out without

even my minimal rights as an employee.

AXXENT was over ambitious, and ran out of money in an overly competitive

industry.

So, up to this point, in order to maintain a job in the Telephone

industry, I have personally been forced to change jobs a number of times

and physically move myself between Toronto, Kingston, and Montreal

numerous times. It does not make for much of a "LIFE". Much of this

change has been forced upon me by the circumstances.

The point I am trying to make, by presenting my career history, is that

there is too much angst, turmoil, upheaval and insecurity in the

Telephone industry. The competition in the industry is out of control.

It’s causing problems for everyone. From an employee point of view it’s

a mess ... and I’m tired of getting tossed around in the Telephone

industry. I am sure there are many customers who are not pleased

either. (Example - AXXENT bankruptcy and shutdown of customers.)

Some negative things that I’ve seen working inside the Telephone

industry:

Understaffed, overworked, underpaid, too much overtime expected and

"demanded" to complete projects. Leading to burnout, family problems,

life problems and career mess. Projects with FAR too optomistic

deadlines. Screwed up installations and migrations. Poorly completed

"half-ass" and low quality jobs due to "Big Rush" and management push.

Lack of proper training for employees. Poor management. Lack of

communication. Corporate propaganda, corporate image manipulation, and

corporate arm twisting to control employees and squeeze every ounce of

life out of them. Insider trading and stock manipulation. Draconian

rules for employees.

Much of this is caused by "lack of money" caused by TOO MUCH COMPETITION

and prices which are becoming too LOW.

I get the impression that more regulation is required in the Telephone

industry.

All the turmoil, angst, and change in my Telecom career so far has led

me to want to LEAVE THE INDUSTRY. Telecom is too insecure for my

liking. Companies and management are making questionable moves and

decisions leading to negative consequences for everyone.

It is unfortunate that I seek to leave the Telephone industry because I

have a lot of Telecom experience and specialized training in the the

industry now. It would be a shame to waste that experience and

training.

All I can say is the Telephone industry is in a bad MESS right now ....

and I hope the CRTC (the regulator) along with Bell steps in and cleans

things up.

I DO want to work in the Telephone industry again but I’m not sure if

that will be possible given the state of things.

Time will tell.

Yours Truly,

Frank Tirelli, P.Eng.

Telecom Technician and Electrical Engineer.

33 Jane Ave

Kingston, Ontario, K7M 3G6

email: frank.tirelli@sympatico.ca