Telcos hang up too often on consumers
So the failure that recently knocked out 911 emergency services in the Maritimes was a software update that went wrong.
Sound familiar? This time it was Bell and not Rogers, whose system update failure last summer led to a nationwide disruption to their customers, emergency services and the economy.
Bell sorted out its problem in a few hours. Rogers’ lasted 16 hours.
In the meantime, Nova Scotians received an emergency alert on phones and on the radio, giving alternate numbers to call in the case of an emergency.
It was just luck that this particular failure did not result in death or a crisis situation due to the inability to reach 911. I’m not sure that luck should factor into an IT update that affects emergency communications and services.
The Bell system failure comes months after extensive outages of cell services after post-tropical storm Fiona that cut off people from 911 emergency services, friends and family during a crisis. Some people lost their cell connections for more than a week.
In the aftermath, we discovered that damaged cell towers were equipped with six hours of battery backup in the event of power failure. Some cell towers had no backup at all.
The provincial emergency organization warned power customers to expect 72 hours of outage.
Unlike the power company, which reported outages extensively, showed affected areas on maps and gave reconnection estimates, the big telcos did not give updates on the extent of damage to their infrastructure. They also failed to fully participate in storm planning with other essential services.
These events all come at a time when the Canadian telco landscape is consolidating.
Rogers and Shaw are planning to merge into one big service provider. The deal has not been finalized yet but, if it goes through, there will be fewer telcos and they will be bigger.
This is not good news for Canadians who rely on their services for emergency communications like 911. It’s also bad news for consumers, who pay some of the highest cellphone rates in the world.
In January, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed an attempt to stop the merger. The Competition Bureau of Canada said this marriage would harm Canadian consumers, with higher prices and poorer service.
This is because the merger will result in less competition, allowing the companies to act like one big privately run oligarchy.
The big telcos own the cables, towers and infrastructure that makes the system work. This makes it difficult for smaller service providers to enter the market and increase competition. With more players in the market, prices would drop and service would improve.
The federally sanctioned regulator, the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), has not done a great job of forcing the hand of telcos to protect consumers and users of emergency services. They behave like a David who is up against a Goliath of corporate service providers.
Too often the CRTC is slow to force transparency and changes required to improve services and infrastructure.
These services are not like television streaming channels or online shopping. We are relying on these companies to provide essential services that could mean the difference between life and death.
And it’s not just emergencies. Our entire economy is structured around these cell and telecommunication services. When the Rogers failure occurred, financial transactions with banking and credit cards were disabled. This affected many small businesses.
Leaving essential services to private companies that are accountable to shareholders is risky. It’s even riskier when the federal regulator is weak.
Allowing the Rogers-Shaw merger will just make the problem worse at a time when public trust in the big telcos is declining. Canadians are finally waking up to the costs and risks.
If the CRTC can’t properly regulate the big telcos, then it might be time to consider a nationalized service like the post office that is accountable to users and governments and not shareholders.