We wrote earlier about the possible need for improved reporting of service outages.
One of our friendly (but shy) readers has pointed out that the current reporting regime looks at service interruption to competitors, not to consumers. In 2005, the CRTC simplified the reporting requirements.
Before then, the Commission required that ILECs file reports on all service outages that affect competitors and that exceed 15 minutes in duration. Those reports were changed to annual reports by last year’s circular.
We think that consumers would be well served if all Canadian service providers, wireline and wireless, were required to report service outages affecting a broad base of subscribers for more than 15 minutes.
We would include broadband internet access service providers in that reporting as well, given the migration of some voice services to ride over broadband. Reliable connectivity for consumers will become a competitive supplier issue as access independent services take hold.
In an environment of government organizations looking at emergency preparedness, we may need to have an independent audit of how carriers are engineering their networks in a competitive environment. Are margins getting to be too thin to provide the kinds of reliability that national security may require?
If customers aren’t willing to pay the cost for higher network availability, how do we fund the shortfall?