NG911 Hearing: Cablecos propose a more efficient, lower cost, national consortium

By Perry Hoffman

GATINEAU – Canada’s cable companies say now is the time to wrest control of the 911 emergency system away from the incumbent telcos and hand it over to a new consortium charged with implementing next-generation emergency services.Just as the telecom market has evolved from a monopoly environment to one based on competitive dynamics, so too should NG911.While the cable operators believe the telcos have done a good job of running the existing 911 system over the last four decades, the CRTC shouldn’t simply renew their mandate to oversee a new NG911 system. As Shaw Communications noted in its opening remarks...