TNW Wireless files Part 1 over roaming agreements

A Northern mobile wireless provider is asking the CRTC to compel a pair of incumbents to strike roaming agreements with it, arguing that its proposed national Wi-Fi based service is substantially different from one kiboshed by the regulator earlier this year. TNW Wireless Inc., which was recently sold to Florida-based holding and management company United American Corp., said in a Tuesday press release it had filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC to make BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. provide it with wholesale roaming agreements so that it can move forward with its proposed Internet Personal Communication System (iPCS) to provide voice and text services through data, and incidental roaming outside of its territory in communities in northern British Columbia and the Yukon. “This is probably one of the most important applications to come before the CRTC in some time as the outcome will greatly affect the Canadian competitive landscape,” TNW Wireless president Lawry Trevor-Deutsch said in the release. “As such we expect that there will be significant opposition from the incumbents as mobile services provide them with higher than average profit margins.” TNW Wireless provides mobile service “using both traditional 4G/LTE and proprietary iPCS smartphone-over-IP technology through extended Home Public Mobile Network coverage using its Wi-Node technology,” the release said. It explained that “Wi-Node gateway technology permits subscribers to use TNW Wireless' 850 MHz licensed spectrum service coverage remotely through an Internet Wi-Fi connection in Canada and around the world.” According to the application, TNW requested roaming access to the Bell and Telus networks in January and was turned down by both, “citing the potential misuse of a roaming agreement to allow permanent access to their respective networks.” In the release, Trevor-Deutsch said the two incumbents would be looking at the dispute between Rogers Communications Inc. and Iristel Inc.’s Sugar Mobile, which ended with the CRTC ruling in March that Rogers didn’t have to provide roaming to the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). “However iPCS is a very sophisticated technology and not just an over the top application,” Trevor-Deutsch said. “It was developed to be fully compliant with all current regulations and we believe the Sugar Mobile decision is not relevant in this case.” TNW’s application said it has provided both Bell and Telus with all of the technical details about its service, outlining that when using “iPCS Wi-Node, users’ devices de-register from any roaming partner network which halts the use of any Visited Public Mobile Network (VPMN) spectrum and automatically turns off the smartphone cellular radio while at the same time uses TNW’s licensed spectrum through a private network connection via fixed Ethernet USB cable adaptor or Wi-Fi.” The issue with Sugar Mobile’s service was that it was deemed to allow users to permanently roam on the Rogers network. TNW said its service is incidental, and that it would be sold with a contract provision that allows TNW to “disable roaming capabilities if a subscriber exceeds” usage deemed incidental roaming until the next billing cycle. The application noted that in March’s MVNO ruling, the CRTC said that “incumbents cannot include certain restrictive conditions in their Wholesale Roaming Agreements as this would limit competition,” and that “just because they cannot put such restrictions in their agreements does not mean incumbents should be able” to deny providing those agreements “in the first place using criteria they cannot put in a contract.” The application also took note of Innovation Minister Navdeep Bain’s recent order for the CRTC to review that very ruling, adding that “the relief sought will allow market forces to achieve current and recently announced policy objectives in a fair and equitable manner to the benefit of Canadians.” — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

TNW Wireless files Part 1 over roaming agreements

News | July 4, 2017

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TNW Wireless files Part 1 over roaming agreements

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