Municipally-owned B.C. SILEC asks CRTC for relief from NG911 requirements

A municipally-owned small incumbent local exchange carrier (SILEC) in northwest British Columbia is requesting that the CRTC relieve it of its next-generation 911 (NG911) network requirements claiming it needs a few years to put the necessary infrastructure in place to properly transition from its basic 911 (B911) network. In an Oct. 27 Part 1 application, published Thursday by the regulator, City West Cable and Telephone Corp. requested to be relieved of requirement to implement NG911 service in the exchanges of Prince Rupert, Metlakatla and Port Edward, B.C. The latter two communities are Telus Corp. telephony exchanges served by Prince Rupert’s public safety answering point (PSAP), meaning CityWest’s network facilitates the provision of B911 to all three communities. CityWest argued to the regulator that the technology upon which NG911 networks are based assumes a transition from enhanced 911 (E911) networks, and there is no path from B911 to NG911. “If it is relieved of the requirement to implement NG911, CityWest will, in cooperation with its owner (i.e. the Municipality of Prince Rupert) implement improvements to B911 in pace with the municipality as it improves its 911 infrastructure in the years to come,” CityWest told the regulator. In a June decision the CRTC said providers will have until March 1, 2022, to “among other things, establish their NG911 networks, complete all NG911 production onboarding activities, and be ready to provide NG911 Voice, wherever public safety answering points (PSAPs) have been established in a particular region.” In a July letter CityWest told the commission that it would be unable to meet the NG911 implementation dates set out in the June decision. The primary obstacle to providing NG911 or even E911 services is the lack of local address and mapping information, CityWest told the commission in its letter. The CRTC replied a month later informing the SILEC that it “cannot delay its obligations by way of its letter…” and it had to file a formal Part 1. Commission staff also suggested that “it may be appropriate for CityWest to have regard for Northwestel’s situation and the resulting requirements imposed upon this company by the commission.” The regulator had directed Northwestel Inc. to file for CRTC approval — by Oct. 1, 2021 — an updated transition plan, having recognized that “circumstances in the North are unique”. As a result, CityWest submitted Northwestel’s October report as evidence in support of its application. Northwestel told the CRTC that it is still too early to provide timelines or specific implementation methodologies for NG911 networks in the North and suggested it improve its B911 services in the interim. “Unfortunately, there currently does not exist a for B911-served areas which would address how they should transition to NG911,” NorthwesTel told the commission in October. It noted that the adoption of NENA i3 standard -- used to develop an emergency services IP network -- for NG911 in Canada “does not deal with the establishment of NG911 from B911 areas at all… As B911 areas have no networks to leverage, this is a significant matter that remains unresolved at this time.” CityWest noted to the commission that it is in the same position as Northwestel from a technical and network perspective. “Therefore, there is no reason why the commission’s NG9-1-1 mandate should remain on CityWest when there is no such mandate for Northwestel,” the SILEC stated. -- Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca.

Municipally-owned B.C. SILEC asks CRTC for relief from NG911 requirements

News | November 5, 2021

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Municipally-owned B.C. SILEC asks CRTC for relief from NG911 requirements

News | November 5, 2021

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