Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to Stephen Schmidt (TELUS Communications Inc.) and Philippe Gauvin (Bell Mobility Inc)
Ottawa, 2 May 2023
Our reference: 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
Philippe Gauvin
Assistant General Counsel
Bell Mobility Inc
19th Floor- 160 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2C4
bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Subject: Request for information regarding disruption to mobile 9-1-1 calls in Calgary
Dear Stephen Schmidt and Phil Gauvin,
On 20 February 2023, Commission staff issued requests for information to Bell Mobility Inc. (Bell) and TELUS Communications Inc. (TELUS) in relation to possible communications issues experienced in Calgary, Alberta from 26 October 2022 to 18 November 2022 that may have impacted mobile 9-1-1 calls, including any issues that would have prevented 9-1-1 calls made on 9 November 2022 from being connected to the Calgary PSAP
Commission staff has reviewed the responses provided by Bell and TELUS on 3 and 8 February 2023 respectively. Both Bell and TELUS submitted that they were not aware of any issues on their respective networks, including 9-1-1, that would have caused 9-1-1 calls to not be delivered to the Alberta PSAPs, and that all calls made on 9 November 2022 were properly connected to the Calgary PSAP.
Notwithstanding the above, Bell indicated that certain network upgrades to its network related to Next-generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) during the period between 26 October 2022 and 18 November 2022 resulted in impacts to the audio quality of certain 9-1-1 calls. In order to mitigate these issues, Bell rolled back these relevant upgrades and is now investigating solutions to these issues.
Consequently, staff is satisfied that Bell and TELUS are in compliance with their 9-1-1 obligations, having properly connected 9-1-1 calls to the appropriate PSAP. With respect to the issue affecting the audio quality of 9-1-1 calls, staff expects Bell to perform the necessary work to ensure these issues are resolved as it continues its transition towards NG9-1-1.
Yours sincerely,
Original signed by
Michel Murray
Director, Dispute Resolution & Regulatory Implementation
Telecommunications Sector
c.c.: Étienne Robelin, Manager, Emergency Services Policy, CRTC (etienne.robelin@crtc.gc.ca)
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