Rogers disclosure on outage, CRTC process not good enough: PIAC

Again dissatisfied with the redactions in Rogers Communications Inc.'s public filings to the CRTC regarding the company's massive July 8 outage, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre has again asked the CRTC to mandate greater disclosure from the incumbent telecom company. In a Friday letter to the regulator, PAIC requested greater disclosure from Rogers' August 22 submission to the commission. "Rogers has redacted critical information that the public requires to fully understand the cause of the outage and assess Rogers’ subsequent response, and which should be disclosed to eventually form part of the record in future public proceedings," PIAC wrote in the letter. Specifically, PIAC is seeking more information on Rogers' stated plans to spend $261 million to "physically separate" its wireless and wireline networks, as well as the company's plan to invest some $10 billion on network resiliency and reliability. PIAC wants to see Rogers' timeline, examples included in Rogers' separation plan and in its $10 billion investment plan, and the "detailed explanation" of how the physical separation will improve resiliency. “If Rogers' customers are to, at least in part, foot the bill for these significant remedial projects," PIAC writes, "then customers should know what they’re paying for and when to expect results." Further disclosure about the company's plans for this investment will help rebuild the trust of Rogers' customers in the company, PIAC argued to the commission. Further, Rogers' revelation that some 40 per cent of its 911 calls failed during the outage is not good enough, PIAC wrote in the request. The actual number is important for the public to know, the group argued, and is "a critical indicator of impact." Specifically, PIAC added, the actual number of failed 911 calls would show "how many people could have suffered serious harms due to Rogers’ decision to keep its RAN in service despite its wireless network being non-operational for an extended period in early stages of the outage." In detailing its request for more information from the company, PIAC also reiterated its demand for a full public proceeding into the outage, and pointed to the as of yet unanswered question submitted to the company by the Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee (DWCC) in July about the impact of the outage on the deaf, deaf-blind, and hard-of-hearing community.

Rogers disclosure on outage, CRTC process not good enough: PIAC

Brief | August 26, 2022

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Rogers disclosure on outage, CRTC process not good enough: PIAC

Brief | August 26, 2022

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