OTTAWA – A new CRTC policy announced Thursday encourages the country’s incumbent telephone companies to adopt Internet Protocol (IP) throughout their networks, putting them on a similar footing with their wireless colleagues.
Large telephone companies have traditionally relied on voice circuit-switched technology (known as TDM) to transfer telephone calls to and from other service providers. Although they are gradually migrating their networks to IP, these companies continue to rely on the older technology.
By comparison, cable companies and wireless providers that began offering telephone services in the last few years have built IP-based networks, and are currently responsible for converting their IP telephone calls to the older TDM standard.
The Commission said this shift to IP, which follows a public hearing held last Fall, will cut costs and promote the development of innovative new services for Canadians.
"The networks of the future will be primarily based on Internet Protocol," said CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein, in a statement. "We have established basic principles to ensure this technology becomes the industry standard for voice networks as quickly as possible. The industry was able to reach a consensus on many key issues during this proceeding, and we appreciate their commitment."
Other key points from the decision include:
– In areas where a large telephone company uses IP to transfer telephone calls to either an affiliated or unaffiliated provider, it must now provide a similar arrangement to any other provider that asks for it by negotiating such arrangements within six months of a formal request;
– The costs of transferring telephone calls between a wireless and a wireline provider must now be shared. Currently, independent providers are responsible for paying the entire cost unless they allow alternative long-distance providers access to their networks. A key point was the different obligations between independent wireless providers and those that are affiliated with a larger communications company.
– Wireless providers will no longer be required to give this access to alternative long-distance providers since they already offer a variety of plans, and Canadians have the choice of other long-distance options such as prepaid cards and local access numbers. These changes will reduce costs for many wireless providers, and potentially level the playing field between independent providers and those that are affiliated with a larger communications company.
