ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission Letter - 8638-C12-200314641

Letter

Ottawa, 21 February 2005

By Email

File No: 8638-C12-200314641 

To: Distribution list (see attached)  

Re:   Follow-up to decision 2003-53 - Conditions of service for wireless competitive local exchange carriers and for emergency services offered by wireless service providers

In Paragraph 94 of Conditions of service for wireless competitive local exchange carriers and for emergency services offered by wireless service providers (WSPs), Telecom Decision CRTC 2003-53 , dated 12 August 2003, the Commission required all WSPs to file by 13 November 2003 a proposal for providing WSP's subscribers with initial and periodic notification of the availability, characteristics and limitations of the 9-1-1 service offered by the WSP.

The following parties filed proposals as directed: Bell Mobility Inc. ( Bell ) , Aliant Telecom Inc. (Aliant), MTS Allstream Inc. (MTS), Saskatchewan Telecommunications (Sasktel), Telus Communications Inc. (TELUS), KMTS Mobility (KMTS), Microcell Solutions Inc. (Microcell) [1] , NorthernTel Limited Partnership (NorthernTel), Télébec, société en commandite (Télébec), Northwestel Inc. (Northwestel) and Rogers Wireless Inc. (Rogers). 

Position of Parties 

All parties (except TELUS) proposed that customers be provided with tips to remember when calling 9-1-1 from a wireless phone based on the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association ( CWTA) E9-1-1 fact sheet.   TELUS which is a member of the CWTA, did not propose a similar list of tips as other parties did, but neither did it agree or disagree with it.   In general, the parties proposed that the key messages which should be communicated to customers, will include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following user tips concerning wireless 911 services:

•  to always give the operator your cell phone number including area code in case you are in an area not equipped with wireless E9-1-1 and the operator does not know your number;

•  to tell the operator your location or the location of the emergency reflecting the fact that the operator does not know your actual location;

•  to stay on the line with the operator and the fact that customers are not being billed for airtime on 9-1-1 calls;

•  to not hang up until told to do so and to leave your phone turned on after hanging up in case the operator needs to call you back; and

•  not to pre-program 9-1-1 on your cell phone thus helping to reduce the chance of unintended accidental calls to 9-1-1 service.

All parties also proposed to provide information, in various formats, outlining the availability, characteristics and limitations of wireless 9-1-1 and E9-1-1service as applicable in their respective licensed operating territory. All parties proposed that their communication plans for both the initial and the periodic notification be segmented to post-paid and pre-paid sub-groups as different methods of communication will be needed for each.

Initial Notification 

All parties proposed that new customers and existing customers be provided with 9-1-1 information in all handset packaging provided as part of their handset initiation/renewal package. This information will be provided either through a brochure or by a 9-1-1 information sticker on handset boxes. 

For post-paid customers i.e., those receiving a monthly statement, all parties suggested that either through bill inserts or on the bill itself, they will provide information which outlines the availability, characteristics and limitations of wireless 9-1-1 service as applicable in their respective licensed operating territory. 

All parties (except Microcell, NorthernTel and Télébec) proposed that for pre-paid customers, i.e., those not receiving a monthly statement, the primary communications channel between these customers and their WSPs is the Integrated Voice Response (IVR) system. Pre-paid customers use this system on a regular basis to top up and administer their pre-paid account. The parties proposed that the pre-paid IVR system include the wireless 9-1-1 initial messaging in the "must listen" front end portion. 

TELUS noted that the IVR system is not well suited to convey specific and involved E9-1-1 messages but proposed it be used to refer pre-paid clients to its website for further information on E9-1-1. 

Microcell and Rogers proposed to send a bulk Short Message Service (SMS) message to the entire existing pre-paid end-customer base informing them that important information is available to them on their web site regarding the nature and proper use of wireless emergency services.   Microcell noted that for practical customer management and network management reasons, this bulk SMS message would not necessarily be sent to all end-customers on the same date. 

NorthernTel and Télébec proposed that their customer service representatives will give 9-1-1 information when pre-paid customers are topping up their accounts. They also proposed to provide 9-1-1 information in a brochure upon purchase of a pre-paid card and/or to send a letter to all pre-paid customers. 

Periodic Notification 

TELUS, Microcell and Rogers proposed that periodic notification be done on an annual basis.

All parties proposed a variety of communications channels to provide customers with periodic notification of the availability, characteristics and limitations of wireless 9-1-1 service.   All parties also proposed to utilize their websites to provide comprehensive 9-1-1 information.

For post-paid customers, Microcell, Rogers and TELUS suggested that, either through bill inserts or on the bill itself, they will each provide information which outlines the availability, characteristics and limitations of wireless 9-1-1 service as applicable in their respective licensed operating territory. 

For pre-paid customers, Microcell and Rogers proposed to send a bulk SMS message to their pre-paid end-customer base informing them that important 9-1-1 information is available to them on their web site regarding the nature and proper use of wireless emergency services.  

TELUS proposed using the IVR system to refer pre-paid customers to their website for further 9-1-1 information. 

Bell , Aliant, MTS, Sasktel, Telus, KMTS, NorthernTel, Télébec, and Northwestel proposed that they will also utilize the following channels; 

•  Expanded 911 Messaging using their websites

•  Periodic 9-1-1 information insertions in their newsletters; and

•  Use of in-store customer 9-1-1 brochures e.g. CWTA Brochure.

Conclusions 

Having regard to the proposals described above, the following approaches for providing WSP subscribers with initial and periodic notification are to be implement to the extent that this has not already been put into practice. 

All WSPS are to provide their customers with a) user tips to remember when calling 9-1-1 from a wireless phone, and b) information whi ch outlines the availability, characteristics and limitations of wireless 9-1-1 and E9-1-1service as applicable in their respective licensed operating territory.

The user tips to be communicated to customers in include, but need not necessarily be limited to, the following: 911 user tips concerning the use of the Wireless 911 service: 

•  to always give the operator your cell phone number including area code in case you are in an area not equipped with wireless E9-1-1 and the operator does not know your number;

•  to tell the operator your location or the location of the emergency reflecting the fact that the operator does not know your actual location;

•  to stay on the line with the operator and the fact that customers are not being illed for airtime on 9-1-1 calls;

•  to not hang up until told to do so and to leave your phone turned on after hanging up in case the operator needs to call you back; and

•  not to pre-program 9-1-1 on your cell phone thus helping to reduce the chance of unintended accidental calls to 9-1-1 service.

Initial Notification

All new customers or existing customers are to be provided with the 911 information in a) and b) above. This information will be provided in all handset packaging provided to customers as part of their handset initiation/renewal package. This information can be provided either through a brochure or by a 9-1-1 information sticker on handset boxes or both. This should be implemented within 90 days of the date of this letter.

All WSPs are to provide as an initial notification to all post-paid customers the 911 information in a) and b) above, either through bill inserts or on the bill itself. This should be implemented within 90 days of the date of this letter.

For pre-paid customers who do not receive a monthly bill, all WSPs (except NorthernTel and Télébec) are to provide an initial notification through their respective IVR system in the "must listen" front end portion. WSPs may provide the 911 information in a) and b) above using the IVR system. However, at a minimum WSPs should use the IVR system to refer pre-paid clients to their website for the information in a) and b) above.

WSPs may also send as an initial notification, a bulk SMS message to their entire existing pre-paid end-customer base referring them to their website for the 911 information in a) and b) above.

NorthernTel and Télébec, as an initial notification to pre-paid subscribers, are to provide the 911 information in a) and b) above, through the following means: on a brochure upon purchase of a pre-paid card; and/or by referring pre-paid customers to their website for   information using their customer service representatives when pre-paid customers are topping up their accounts.   As another option, NorthernTel and Télébec may send a letter as an initial notification to all pre-paid customers, providing the 911 information in a) and b) above.

Periodic Notification

All WSPS are to provide the 911 information in a) and b) above, updated as required, on their websites.

All WSPs are to ensure that all customers are at a minimum given annual notification of the 911 information in a) and b) above. This information is to be provided through, but not limited to, any of the following means;

In the case of post-paid customers, either through:

•  bill inserts or on the bill itself; or

•  9-1-1 information insertions in the WSP's newsletter. 

In the case of pre-paid customers, either through: 

•  the IVR system in the "must listen" front end portion, or by referring customers to the 911 information in a) and b) above on their website; or

•  bulk SMS messages which refer customers to their website for further information on the 911 information in a) and b) above; or

•  in-store 9-1-1 brochures when purchasing pre-paid cards.

Parties are asked to confirm by email to paul.godin@crtc.gc.ca , no later than 90 days after receiving this letter, that they have implemented the above measures.

Yours sincerely,

Scott Hutton
Director General
Competition, Costing and Tariffs
Telecommunications

c.c.: James Ndirangu, CRTC   (819) 997-3670

Distribution list:  

Bell Mobility Inc. (Bell) donald.woodford@bell.ca bell.regulatory@bell.ca , Aliant Telecom Inc. (Aliant) & MT&T Mobile Inc. Regulatory.Matters@Aliant.ca , MTS Allstream Inc. (MTS) iworkstation@allstream.com , Saskatchewan Telecommunications (Sasktel) document.control@sasktel.sk.ca , Telus Communications Inc. (TELUS) regulatory.affairs@telus.com , KMTS Mobility (KMTS) dmccaffrey@kenora.com , NorthernTel Limited Partnership (NorthernTel) regmat@ntl.sympatico.ca ,

Télébec, société en commandite (Télébec) reglementa@telebec.com , Northwestel Inc. (Northwestel) regulatoryaffairs@nwtel.ca , Rogers Wireless Inc.(Rogers) rwi_gr@rci.rogers.com , Corporation of the City of Thunder Bay Telephone pgcomrie@tbaytel.net , Globalstar Canada Co. bmartin@globalstar.ca , Nexicom Mobility Inc. pdowns@nexicom.net , Sogetel Mobilité Inc. louise.begin@sogetel.com , Superior Wireless Inc. info@superiorwireless.net , TELE-Mobile Company parke.davis@telus.com