ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission Letter Addressed to Distribution

Ottawa, 15 May 2015

Our reference: 8663-C12-201503186

BY EMAIL

Distribution

RE: Review of basic telecommunications services, Telecom Notice of Consultation 2015-134^{Footnote 1} – Requests for information

On 9 April 2015, the Commission launched a public proceeding to examine the telecommunications services that Canadians require to participate meaningfully in the digital economy. One of the issues that the Commission intends to examine is the availability of telecommunications services, including the extent to which areas in Canada are underserved or unserved.

Pursuant to section 37 of the Telecommunications Act (Act), the Commission may require that persons provide it with information necessary for the administration of the Act.

Some companies and other entities in Canada have built fixed and/or mobile networks to provide broadband Internet access to their communities, including schools and libraries. If your organization has built such a network, owns telecommunications facilities, and provides telecommunications services to customers, you are requested to respond to the attached requests for information by 30 June 2015. If the information requested in a specific question does not apply, indicate “not applicable” in your response. These submissions must be received, not merely sent, by that date.

Filing of Information with the Commission

Responses to these requests for information must 1) refer to the file number noted above and 2) be sent to the Secretary General of the Commission using only one of the following means:

via My CRTC Account (at the following link: https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/cover.htm and click on “Proceed to Broadcasting and Telecom Cover Page)

or

by mail to

CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2

or

by fax to

819-994-0218

Your responses, which will become part of the record of this proceeding, will provide a better understanding of the telecommunications network infrastructure currently available to serve Canadians. Please note that your responses to these requests for information will not make you a party to this proceeding. Interested persons who wish to become parties are to consult Telecom Notice of Consultation 2015-134 for more information on how to participate.

Confidentiality

Sections 30 to 34 of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure and sections 38 and 39 of the Telecommunications Act set out a process by which persons who submit information to the Commission may designate it as confidential. As set out in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-961,^{Footnote 2} a company that designates certain information as confidential must provide an abridged version of the document involved, accompanied by a note explaining how the information in question is confidential. Any requests to designate information as confidential must be supported by detailed rationale that is specific to the issue at hand; generic statements such as ‘the release of this information to competitors would result in specific, direct harm to the company’ are not sufficient. Further details are available in the above-mentioned Information Bulletin.

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by

John Macri
Director
Policy Framework
Telecommunications Sector

c.c.:  Christine Bailey, CRTC, (819) 997-4557, christine.bailey@crtc.gc.ca

Distribution List

2094206 Ontario Ltd (Ruralwave), dan@ruralwave.ca
4141903 Canada Inc. (Storm Internet Services), jblack@storm.ca
9144-3036 Quebec Inc., borromee@navigue.com
A.B.C. Allen Business Communications Ltd, Bob.Allen@abccommunications.com
Cable Cable Inc., michaelf@cablecable.net
Corridor Communications Inc., AkolisaU@corp.cciwireless.ca
Développement Innovations Haut-Richelieu, p.bonvouloir@internet-haut-richelieu.com
Duclos & Michaud Télécom Inc., denis@duclosmichaud.com
Figment Cablesystems Inc., kerrie.martin@figment.ca
G.P.N. Wireless Network Solutions Ltd, boris@coool.ca
GwaiiTel Society, brian@financial-logic.com
Harewaves Wireless Inc., Andrew@harewaves.net
Lemalu Holdings Ltd, jasons@mcsnet.ca
Manitoba NetSet Ltd, DHardy@netset1.ca
Mascon Cable Systems Inc., darren@masconcable.ca
Naskapi Imuun Inc., marcille@atmacinta.com
Raftview Communications Ltd, admin@mercuryspeed.com
Ragged Edge Community Network Society, info@recn.ca
Reztel Communications Inc., info@reztel.net
RFNow Inc., roberteslinger@rfnow.com
RhiCom Networks Inc., kayle.tjomsaas@rhizone.ca
Rionet Wireless Inc., jarett@rionet.ca
Route 2, jshort@city.summerside.pe.ca
Targo Communications Inc., louispaul@targointernet.com
Télédistribution Amos inc., Michel.tanguay@cableamos.com
Teliphone Navigata-Westel Communication Inc., eric.unrau@teliphone.com
Tuckersmith Communications Co-operative Limited, rob@tccmail.ca
YourLink Inc., Vicky.Giesbrecht@yourlinkinc.net

Attachment

Requests for Information

1. Provide the monthly average usage of data in gigabytes (GB) for residential customers for the year 2014 for Internet service.

Network Infrastructure^{Footnote 3}

2. With respect to your company’s operating territory, provide the following information for Internet services (excluding dial-up) that you offer:
   1. the total number of households that your company is capable of serving;
   2. the total number of households served by your company; and
   3. the total number of households served that meet the Commission’s broadband Internet target speeds of 5 Mbps download / 1 Mbps upload.^{Footnote 4}
3. With respect to your company’s operating territory, provide the following information for areas that are currently unserved^{Footnote 5} or underserved^{Footnote 6} as of December 2014:
   1. the technologies used in the access facilities for serving subscribers (or households), such as fixed wireless access (licensed or unlicensed), satellite (direct to home), cable modem, and mobile wireless;
   2. for each technology in (a) above, the average upstream and downstream Internet speeds that you offer;
   3. the technologies used for connecting to the PoP and average capacities in Mbps to / from the PoP; and
   4. a description (including the boundaries) of your operating territory indicating the types and locations of access facilities.
4. To better understand historical and projected network utilization and demand for broadband Internet access services, provide responses to the following questions.
   1. Describe the various engineering assumptions associated with network deployments/upgrades, such as percentage of active users (i.e. households) at peak periods and at other times of day, as well as their peak usage demands. Provide the oversubscription ratios used.
   2. Are different engineering assumptions utilized when planning network deployments/upgrades in different geographic areas, when different technologies are used, or where different speed tiers are offered to end users? If yes, please explain these differences.
   3. For each of the years 2010 to 2014, provide 1) the network engineering assumption for throughput bandwidth allocated to each end user expressed in kilobits per second (kbps) (i.e. engineered throughput), and 2) the average volume of data used per end user expressed in gigabytes (GB) per month.
   4. For each of the years 2015 to 2019, provide the forecasts for the information requested in part c) above.

Date modified:

2015-05-15