Search

Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to Stephen Schmidt (TELUS Communications Inc.)

Ottawa, 22 February 2023

Reference(s): 8000-C12-201909780

BY EMAIL

Stephen Schmidt
Vice-President Telecom Policy & Chief Regulatory Legal Counsel
TELUS Communications Inc.
Floor 5, 215 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 0A6
Regulatory.affairs@telus.com

Subject: Request for information regarding disruption to mobile 9-1-1 calls in Calgary

Dear Stephen Schmidt,

Commission staff recently became aware of possible communications issues experienced in Alberta from 26 October 2022 to 18 November 2022 that resulted in a number of mobile 9-1-1 calls not being properly connected to the public safety answering point (PSAP) serving the area from which the calls were made. One or some of these calls may have been in relation to a medical emergency affecting a 13-year-old student from Calgary, Alberta on 9 November 2022. It is Commission staff’s understanding that the issue may have impacted 9-1-1 calls made from Bell Mobility Inc.’s phones and destined for the Calgary PSAP.

The Canadian public and the Commission place a high degree of importance on 9-1-1 services, including the ability for Canadians to be able to connect with a PSAP during an emergency. As such, TELUS, as the 9-1-1 network provider responsible for operating the 9-1-1 network in Alberta, is required to provide comprehensive answers to the questions set out below, including all relevant details, rationale and any supporting information, by 8 March 2023.

  1. Indicate whether TELUS is aware of any issue(s) (e.g. equipment failure, outages, network upgrades or other service disruptions) that affected – or could have affected – the ability of wireline and wireless calls to be connected to the PSAPs served by the TELUS 9-1-1 networks between 26 October 2022 and 18 November 2022, including specifically any 9-1-1 calls made on a Bell Mobility device in Calgary on 9 November 2022 that were not connected to the Calgary PSAP.

    If TELUS is aware of any such issue(s), 
  2. Confirm when and how TELUS became aware of the issue(s), e.g. via network monitoring or via notification from an originating network provider or PSAP.
  3. Provide complete details on the nature and cause(s) of each issue TELUS is aware of, including whether it was related to the Enhanced 9-1-1 network, the Next generation 9-1-1 network, an originating network, or any combination of the above (e.g. interconnection issue).
  4. Confirm the dates and timelines during which Canadians making wireline or wireless 9-1-1 calls over the TELUS 9-1-1 networks would have experienced issues completing those calls.
  5. Confirm the geographic areas in which Canadians making wireline or wireless 9-1-1 calls over the TELUS 9-1-1 networks would have experienced issues completing those calls.
  6. Confirm which originating networks providers (ONPs) and which PSAPs were impacted. 
  7. Provide details of any communications TELUS had with any ONP in relation to the issue(s), including the name(s) of the ONP(s), relevant dates, and nature of the correspondence. 
  8. Provide details of any communications TELUS had with PSAPs servicing the affected areas in relation to the issue(s), including the name of the PSAP(s), relevant dates and nature of the correspondence. 
  9. Provide, for each day the issue(s) would have been experienced, an estimate of the number of 9-1-1 calls that were successfully delivered to PSAPs vs the number that failed as a result of the issue(s), by area and by ONP, as well as an explanation as to how this estimate was arrived at.
  10. Provide details of any measures taken by TELUS or known by TELUS to have been taken by any other ONP to rectify the issue(s) as well as to avoid any future recurrences in the future, including the name of the ONP(s), relevant dates, and details of the nature of the resolution. 
  11. Confirm whether TELUS informed its customers and the public of the issue(s) and the recovery efforts, including the relevant dates and means of any such communication.  
  12. Provide any additional details relevant to the Commission having a complete understanding of the situation not already covered by the above questions.

This letter and any subsequent correspondence will be placed on the public record. 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, TELUS may designate certain information as confidential though 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, should TELUS designate information as confidential, TELUS 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. 

Note that, in accordance with its normal practices, the Commission may disclose or require the disclosure of information designated as confidential if its disclosure is in the public interest, i.e., where the specific direct harm does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure. 

In light of the public interest in understanding what happened, Commission staff expects TELUS to disclose information on the public record to the maximum extent possible. Where a document is to be filed or served by a specific date, the document must be actually received, not merely sent, by that date.

The Commission requires all documents to be submitted electronically by using the secured service “My CRTC Account” Partner Log In or GCKey and filing the “Telecom Cover Page” located on that web page. 

Yours sincerely,

Original signed by

Michel Murray
Director, Dispute Resolution & Regulatory Implementation

Date modified: