About 25 years ago, we lived in North Carolina and dealt with NCNB as our bank. At the time, they had a policy of providing customers with a $5 credit anytime something went wrong. Error on your statement? Five bucks. More than 5 minute wait in line or on the phone? Five bucks.

Now, banks aren’t in business to give away money, so why did NCNB do this?

First off, they wanted to back their service guarantee up with something real. Five dollars bought a whole lot more in 1986 than it does today, so it was a nice goodwill gesture. But more importantly, the bank’s accounting made sure that the department responsible for the error got charged for the error. Financial accountability for the payment helped align priorities for the people responsible for fixing things.

I received a call looking to renew my subscription to a service that I thought I renewed in mid-November. The agent said that they had no record of my November order and told me I would need to call customer care – she had no way to transfer the call.

I hate being told what I “need” to do. I need better service. I don’t need to call; I don’t want to call.

But I called customer care anyway and was told not to worry; everything is set for the next two years.

So now, I wasted my time on two calls: a call that shouldn’t have been made to me; and, a call that I shouldn’t have had to make. Following the NCNB model, I suggested that they add a year to my service and charge the subscription extension to the appropriate department.

Clearly, someone decided that it wasn’t worth it for IT to update the lists for the call centre. If the business case only looks at a few minutes of call centre time, maybe that is true; the customer impact wasn’t being included.

How do you value your customers’ time?

CATA issued an alarming press release a couple days ago, saying “Due to Canadian federal government regulation, Canada has become the world’s worst industrialized country in which to invest.”

Stability and predictability are attributes of a regulatory and policy framework that would be considered favourable for encouraging private sector investment.

We’re running right to the wire with word from the Government on whether it will act on petitions to overturn CRTC decisions from last December. According to the Telecom Act, the clock on those appeals runs out today.

We had written a piece of evidence [ pdf, 1.4MB] that was part of the materials submitted by Bell and Bell Aliant for consideration in these appeals. We concluded saying:

We believe that a policy of fostering facilities-based competition continues to be the approach that best enables the continued evolution of regulation to increasingly rely on market forces to the maximum extent.
…
Government policy should be to stand aside and allow the marketplace to work.

Encouraging investment in next generation access facilities and allowing the competitive access market to determine pricing, rather than regulation.

On the basis of rulings by cabinet on those petitions, can we predict how the government might deal with the Globalive situation? Remember those stability and predictability attributes to encourage investment.

How do the policies of reliance on market forces to the maximum extent and fostering facilities-based competition apply to Globalive?

How will these interventions by cabinet contribute to Canada’s investment environment?

Yesterday, you should have received the first email blast promoting The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit (June 7-9: registrations are open).

If you didn’t receive an email, then be sure to sign up for our mailing list here, or check your spam filters.

We wanted to let you know that registrations are now open for The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, taking place June 7-9, 2010 in Toronto.

Hear from the leaders
Confirmed keynote speakers include a host of Canadian and global industry leaders. Visit the website often to see the program as it continues to develop.

Now celebrating its 9th year, The Canadian Telecom Summit, is Canada’s leading industry event, attracting more than 500 of the most influential people who shape the future direction of communications and information technology in Canada. For 3 full days, The Canadian Telecom Summit delivers thought provoking presentations from the prime movers of the industry. This is your chance to hear from and talk with them in both a structured atmosphere of frank discussion and high-octane idea exchange and schmooze in a more relaxed social setting of genial conversation.

Covering the entire industry
Join us, meet and discuss issues with leaders of equipment suppliers, service providers, policy makers, regulators and major customers. Focus sessions will examine broadband bundles, intelligence on the go from wireless evolution, unified communications, next generation access networks, billing & operations systems and new business models. We have scheduled a special session to explore development of a national digital strategy. As always, we will have our annual regulatory blockbuster and examine all aspects of the evolving field of converged communications and Canada’s increasingly competitive wireless industry.

Plan to attend
If you are interested in telecommunications, IT or broadcasting, you need to attend The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit. Mark the dates on your calendar: June 7-9. Take advantage of our early bird registration rates by reserving your place now.

See you at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit in June!

Now accepting Visa, Mastercard and American Express

When I first got started in the telephone business, I remember the prominence of the Telephone Pioneers, a group that continues to operate under the banner of TelecomPioneers of Canada. They “are leaders in volunteerism, commited to improving the quality of life in our communities.” It is a group with a long standing tradition of volunteerism.

Bred out of a different era – perhaps encouraged by the long-lost safety of rate of return regulated monopolies – there is a history of community involvement by many of the companies in the telecom sector. It is a soft form of advocacy; a subtle form of corporate marketing. Most important, it is the right thing to do.

Community action by members of the industry ranges from Rogers’ Pumpkin Patrol at Halloween, to Wind Mobile’s deployment of volunteer resources during its licensing uncertainty, to last night’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of Kids Help Phone, founded in part by Bell Canada.

And now, TELUS is continuing to roll out its social networking services to children who are stuck in hospital beds across Canada. A couple months ago, I wrote about TELUS’ activities in delivering Upopolis.com, at that time being rolled out to IWK Health Care in Halifax. The service was already running at McMaster in Hamilton, CHEO in Ottawa and at the BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. On Wednesday, it appears that TELUS will be announcing the addition of Canada’s largest children’s hospital, Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

Continuing a long, proud history of community service in telecommunications. It is the right thing to do.

Last Thursday, I wrote about the call for comments that the CRTC issued, accompanied by a YouTube video appeal for participation.

The CRTC has a hearing starting today with the intent of having the public participate, live or by teleconference. The Commission notes on its website:

In addition to the 16,700 comments posted on the CRTC Website for this hearing, approximately 173,000 comments were submitted through the third parties/campaigns listed below. These comments have been placed on the public record of this proceeding and are available at the CRTC’s Documentation Centre and at the hearing.

Stop the TV Tax (see comment no. 18404 – Revised on 30 November 2009)

Local TV Matters (see comment no. 18405)

Cogeco (see comment no. 18406)

Other campaigns (see comment no. 18407)

Over 4000 comments were received by the CRTC AFTER the deadline for comments had elapsed. Therefore, they will not be taken into account in preparing the CRTC’s report to the Government, but are available on the public record of this proceeding for general information to the public.

It could not have been easy trying to pull together the agenda of appearance for this proceeding.

It should be entertaining to follow along.