Telecom - Commission letter addressed to the Distribution list

Ottawa, 25 March 2021

Our reference: 1011-NOC2020-0367

BY EMAIL

Distribution list

Re: Review of the Commission’s regulatory framework for Northwestel Inc. and the state of telecommunications services in Canada’s North, Telecom Notice of Consultation 2020-367 – Request for information

Madam/Messrs.:

Pursuant to the procedure set out in paragraph 57 of Review of the Commission’s regulatory framework for Northwestel Inc. and the state of telecommunications services in Canada’s North, Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2020-367, 2 November 2020, and section 37 of the Telecommunications Act, attached is a request for information.

This request for information includes three attachments denoted with your respective company names, which should be consulted in order to facilitate your responses.

Responses must be filed with the Commission by 8 April 2021. Parties may file comments strictly limited to the new information provided in response to this RFI by 15 April 2021, and parties may file their reply to the comments with respect to this RFI by 22 April 2021.

As set out in section 39 of the Telecommunications Act and in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin CRTC 2010-961, Procedures for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure in Commission proceedings, parties may designate certain information as confidential. A party designating information as confidential must provide a detailed explanation on why the designated information is confidential and why its disclosure would not be in the public interest, including why the specific direct harm that would be likely to result from the disclosure would outweigh the public interest in disclosure. Furthermore, a party designating

information as confidential must either file an abridged version of the document omitting only the information designated as confidential or provide reasons why an abridged version cannot be filed.

A copy of this letter will be placed on the public record of this proceeding.

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by:

Lisanne Legros
Director
Telecommunications Networks Policy

c.c.: Marianne Blais, CRTC, (819) 997-4836, marianne.blais@crtc.gc.ca
Nicolas Gatto, CRTC, (873) 353-9280, nicolas.gatto@crtc.gc.ca
Andrew MacKenzie, CRTC, (819) 230-6251, andrew.mackenzie@crtc.gc.ca

Attach. (4)

Distribution List:

regulatoryaffairs@nwtel.ca
jane.westlund@bell.ca
regulatory@ssimicro.com
regulatory@iristel.com
regulatory@icewireless.com
tom@newnorth.ca
john.mackenzie@telus.com

Requests for information - Northwestel

Improvements and Expenditures

Using sheets “QUESTION 1 – 2015” to “QUESTION 1 – 2020”:
1. Under the appropriate year sheet in the year the improvement or improvements were completed, use columns C to F to specify the following details to improvements made in the communities listed under column A.
  - Transport or Access: specify whether transport or access infrastructure was improved, or both.
  - Type(s) of Improvement: categories listed under column H include routers, switches, backup power, antennas, and fibre transport. If an improvement does not reasonably fit within one of the above categories, list the improvement as “other” and add a footnote explaining the nature of the improvement. If more than one category of improvement was provided to a community, list each category separated by a semicolon.
  - Issue Addressed: categories listed under column J include reliability (protection from minor outages and slowdowns in service), resiliency (protection from major outages), capacity (ability to serve more connections or more demanding connections), and speed (maximum speed for individual connections).
  - Expenditures: specify the capital expenditures made to improve service. Expenditures should correspond with improvements. If expenditures are disbursed over the course of multiple years, assign them to the year in which the corresponding improvement was completed, and add a footnote to the completion year noting the year-by-year breakdown of project expenditures. If expenditures relate to a project which affects multiple communities in a roughly equal manner (i.e. improvements to a transport line serving multiple communities), clearly indicate the communities in which the project related to and apportion the expenditure equally between the serviced communities.
Using sheets “QUESTION 2 – 2021” to “QUESTION 2 – 2024”:
1. Answer the same questions as in Question 1, but project toward the future. List all improvements either completed or currently scheduled to be completed by Northwestel, from 2021 to 2024. Use the provided categories in the same fashion as Question 1.
  - Only list improvements with specific financial commitments. Use footnotes to specify whether third party funding is expected or secured.
  - If there is uncertainty when an improvement will be completed, provide the latest possible date.

Outages

Using sheet “QUESTION 3”:
1. Under the appropriate year column from C to H, list the total number of wireline voice service outages per community with a minimum time of thirty minutes of continuous outage.
2. Under the appropriate year column from I to N, list the total number of internet service outages per community with a minimum time of thirty minutes of continuous outage.
Using sheet “QUESTION 4”:
1. List all outages from 2015 to 2017 of a total duration of thirty minutes or more.
2. Fill in the columns as follows:
  - location - community and territory/province
  - duration - in minutes
  - initial description – briefly describe the nature of the outage
  - number of subscribers affected
  - outage type – of the following categories, choose the most appropriate: fiber transport; power related; equipment related; human error; weather; force majeure; or other (if other, specify)
  - local or travel – specify whether technicians were available within the community or needed to travel from outside the community
  - reason for outage – describe the primary reason for the outage
  - steps required to solve outage – describe the steps required to resolve the outage.
As a separate attachment in .doc or .pdf format, explain in detail the methodology for calculating outage time in relation to your request for information response to question 1.2 iii., dated 28 January 2021. As part of the explanation, address the following:
1. Did the outages included in your calculations affect every member of the community, or only a selection of households?
2. If outages affected only a selection of households, how was this reflected in the total average number; more specifically, is the average determined by dividing by the total number of households in a community or only by the number of households impacted by the outage?
3. Were there minimum thresholds for minutes of outage in determining what was considered an outage under your calculations? If so, specify those thresholds.

2015-2019 Outages

As a separate attachment in .doc or .pdf format, provide an explanation of outage trends and Northwestel’s response to improving outages for customers. In your response, explain the reasons why certain year(s) indicated in your request for information response to question 1.2 iii., dated 28 January 2021, appear(s) to have significantly larger average internet outage times than others.

Satellite

Using sheet “QUESTION 7”:
1. Provide the following information regarding any leasing arrangements for satellite bandwidth. For each leasing contract or arrangement:
  - Name the party (e.g. Telesat) from whom the bandwidth or transponder is leased;
  - Provide the start date and contract term;
  - Specify the leased capacity in MHz and Mbps;
  - Provide the monthly fee paid to the satellite owner;
  - Provide the frequency band over which the satellite transmits (e.g. C-band);
  - Provide the satellite model to which the contract pertains (e.g. Anik F3);
  - Specify any terms or conditions regarding the resale of satellite bandwidth;
  - Specify any other relevant information about the contract; and,
  - Provide a copy of the contract if available, as a separate attachment.
Using sheet “QUESTION 8”:
1. Provide the following information regarding any satellite wholesale contracts or arrangements you are engaged in with your customers. For each wholesale contract, specify, on a community level:
  - The party or parties contracting with Northwestel;
  - All access facilities used by the wholesale purchaser;
  - All transport infrastructure used by the wholesale purchaser;
  - The monthly fee paid to Northwestel per community (if multiple communities are served by one wholesale contract or arrangement, apportion the expenditure equally between the serviced communities); and,
  - For each contract or arrangement that is in place, clearly indicate which communities are served by that particular contract or arrangement.

Residential NAS

Using sheet “QUESTION 9”:
1. Provide historical residential NAS, by year and month, from 2018 to 2020, and a projection of residential NAS for the year 2021.

Financial Information for 2020

Provide updated financial information for the year 2020 in relation to questions 3.4 and 3.5, for the previous request for information issued in this proceeding, dated 27 November 2020.

Engagement

Discuss the process or processes by which Northwestel engages with municipalities, Indigenous communities or groups, or other parties (for example: private corporations or public utilities) for the development of infrastructure projects or to accommodate requests from those parties. Include discussion of any internal policies or procedures that Northwestel has developed to facilitate engagement with those parties, generally, and with Indigenous communities or groups, specifically. Provide examples or cases, such as, but not limited to, municipal planning activities, engagement with Indigenous communities or groups, and engagement with other parties, where Northwestel has conducted engagement in accordance with its internal policies or procedures.

Requests for information – Bell Mobility

As part of Northwestel’s request for information response dated 28 January 2021, and its reply to requests for disclosure dated 18 February 2021, Northwestel indicated, among other things, that it does not offer mobile services and that Bell Mobility, as a registered wireless services provider, subscribes to certain tariffed and forborne services provided by Northwestel for the provision of wireless services to retail end-customers in Northwestel’s operating territory.

Accordingly, in order to develop the record for this proceeding, Bell Mobility is requested to provide the following:

Using sheet “QUESTION 1”:
1. From columns C to G (Average Monthly Mobile Service Outage Time, 2015-2019), under the appropriate year column, specify, for each community listed under column A, the average number of outage minutes per month for mobile services.
2. As a separate attachment in .doc or .pdf format, explain in detail the methodology for calculating outage time. As part of the explanation, address the following:
  - Did the outages included in your calculations affect every member of the community, or only a selection of households?
  - If outages affected only a selection of households, how was this reflected in the total average number; more specifically, is the average determined by dividing by the total number of households in a community or only by the number of households impacted by the outage?
  - Were there minimum thresholds for minutes of outage in determining what was considered an outage under your calculations? If so, specify those thresholds.
Using sheet “QUESTION 2”:
1. From columns C to G (Average Time to Restore Service per Outage, 2015-2019), under the appropriate year column, specify, for each community listed under column A, the average number of minutes it took to restore service after a mobile service outage.
Using sheet “QUESTION 3”:
1. From columns C to G (Number of Outages, 2015-2019), under the appropriate year column, specify, for each community listed under column A, the total number of incidences each year that mobile service was unavailable for a period of thirty minutes or more.
Using sheet “QUESTION 4,” provide a table listing your company’s existing retail telecommunications services (e.g. wireline telephone service, including VoIP; DSL Internet; Cable Internet; Fibre Internet; mobile wireless voice service; etc.) available for each community your company serves in Northwestel’s operating territory. Any communities not included in the sheet herein must be added to the list. The full list of communities must be used in subsequent questions. In addition, indicate whether retail services are provided to a community via satellite transport.
For all that apply to your company, using sheet “QUESTION 5,” provide subscriber numbers, by community, for the following lines of business:
1. Residential wireline telephone service (i.e. Residential NAS, including VoIP);
2. If applicable, number of residential customers that subscribe to only wireline telephone service (i.e. standalone wireline telephone subscribers);
3. Business wireline telephone service (i.e. Business NAS, including VoIP);
4. Residential Internet access service, by speed;
5. Business Internet access service; and,
6. Mobile wireless services (pre-paid and post-paid).
Provide your company’s revenues for each line of business in Question 5, for each of the years 2014 to 2020. In addition, provide total revenues generated by your company for the provision of telecommunications services, retail, wholesale, or otherwise, in Northwestel’s operating territory, for each of the years 2014 to 2020.

Requests for information – Ice Wireless, Iristel, New North Networks, SSi Micro, and Telus

Using sheet “QUESTION 1,” provide a table listing your company’s existing retail telecommunications services (e.g. wireline telephone service, including VoIP; DSL Internet; Cable Internet; Fibre Internet; mobile wireless voice service; etc.) available for each community your company serves in Northwestel’s operating territory. Any communities not included in the sheet herein must be added to the list. The full list of communities must be used in subsequent questions. In addition, indicate whether retail services are provided to a community via satellite transport.
For all that apply to your company, using sheet “QUESTION 2,” provide subscriber numbers, by community, for the following lines of business:
1. Residential wireline telephone service (i.e. Residential NAS, including VoIP);
2. If applicable, number of residential customers that subscribe to only wireline telephone service (i.e. standalone wireline telephone subscribers);
3. Business wireline telephone service (i.e. Business NAS, including VoIP);
4. Residential Internet access service, by speed;
5. Business Internet access service; and,
6. Mobile wireless services (pre-paid and post-paid).
Provide your company’s revenues for each line of business in Question 2, for each of the years 2014 to 2020. In addition, provide total revenues generated by your company for the provision of telecommunications services, retail, wholesale, or otherwise, in Northwestel’s operating territory, for each of the years 2014 to 2020.

Additional Request for Information for SSi Micro

Using sheet “QUESTION 4”:
1. Provide the following information regarding any leasing arrangements for satellite bandwidth. For each leasing contract or arrangement:
  - Name the party (e.g. Telesat) from whom the bandwidth or transponder is leased;
  - Provide the start date and contract term;
  - Specify the leased capacity in MHz and Mbps;
  - Provide the monthly fee paid to the satellite owner;
  - Provide the frequency band over which the satellite transmits (e.g. C-band);
  - Provide the satellite model to which the contract pertains (e.g. Anik F3);
  - Specify any terms or conditions regarding the resale of satellite bandwidth;
  - Specify any other relevant information about the contract; and,
  - Provide a copy of the contract if available, as a separate attachment.

Date modified:: 2021-03-25

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