GATINEAU – The CRTC said Wednesday that all contracts which telecom network owners have with voice over IP providers must now contain specific 9-1-1 emergency language.
While existing Commission regulations stipulate that VOIP providers who offer voice service as a web app and have little or no network of their own must provide 9-1-1 service, this new decision backs that up with an additional Commission tool it can deploy should any VOIP providers be found in violation of the 9-1-1 regulations.
“The Commission directs Canadian carriers, as a condition of providing telecommunications services to local VoIP service providers, to include in their service contracts or other arrangements with these service providers, the requirement that the latter, and any or all of their wholesale customers and subordinate wholesale customers, abide by the directions regarding the provision of 9-1-1 service to local VoIP service providers set out in paragraphs 52, 68, 93, 94, and 98 of Telecom Decision 2005-21; paragraph 14 of Telecom Decision 2005-61; paragraph 60 of Telecom Decision 2007-44; and paragraph 17 of Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-426,” reads Wednesday’s decision.
“The Commission directs Canadian carriers to
(i) implement the modified condition immediately in all new, amended, and renewed contracts, as well as in other arrangements between Canadian carriers and local VoIP service providers; and
(ii) re-open existing contracts and other arrangements with local VoIP service providers to include the modified condition."
