Maintaining NG911 network won’t exceed current costs: Quebecor

GATINEAU, Que. — The costs to maintain next-generation 911 (NG911) services in Canada will not cost more than what telecoms pay to maintain current 911 services, Quebecor Inc. said on the third day of the CRTC's hearing on the issue, despite some suggesting costs will increase on the new network. “From the beginning of the hearing, there seems to be this presumption that the new network will necessarily be more costly than the old one,” Dennis Béland, vice-president of telecommunications regulatory affairs at Quebecor Media, told the panel of commissioners. “We can't put a figure on it now, but we question this presumption that the new network will be more costly than the old one given the technological advances.” The next-generation 911 network would support the use of more technologies, such as text, video and pictures, reaching out to emergency services. Béland could not answer whether the new network would be even cheaper to maintain, but said the system would just consist of “technological renewal with standards — it's not a Canadian standard...it's a North American standard that's even used internationally. What this means is that there are many suppliers who have interest...in delivering the technologies.” The current system is handled by the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILEC), such as Telus Corp. and BCE Inc., who operate on a regional basis and control 911 networks. “There's no reason it would be more expensive than what currently exists,” Béland said. Throughout the hearing, intervenors have been asked about the costs associated with the operating the new network, on which more data would be carried. When asked Monday about a potential cost increase of 30 per cent, the Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group said that number “might be conservative; it might not,” but it would most likely be costly, according to a transcript. Despite not knowing how much it would cost to maintain the new network, David Watt, senior vice-president of regulatory at Rogers Communications Inc., said Wednesday the network costs have been declining for Rogers as it becomes more efficient. However, he said there would be significant costs to the public safety answer points (PSAPs), which include the price of equipment. And when asked about the biggest cost drivers for the new network, Watt said routers, transmissions facilities and PSAPs having the ability to receive the information in digital format all factor in the equation. Through the first two days of the week-long hearing, the CRTC heard positions from some intervenors suggesting that a national consortium be formed to manage the delivery of next-generation 911 services. Rogers argued that a national consortium would streamline operations and thus make it more cost-effective. It also said in its oral presentation Wednesday that it supports a more “centralized architecture, possibly relying upon a single NG911 network provider.” That single provider would be established “through a competitive process.” But representatives of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., which is in the midst of being acquired by Bell, suggested in their presentation Wednesday that there is no evidence that a single national NG911 network would be more “reliable, resilient or cost-effective” than the current network. Taking a similar position that British Columbian PSAP E-Comm 9-1-1 took Tuesday, MTS recommended in their oral statement that ILECs remain at the helm for emergency services and suggested that the national consortium is “unnecessary” and puts the current system at risk. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca

Maintaining NG911 network won’t exceed current costs: Quebecor

News | 01/19/2017 1:04 am EST

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