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Mobile Syrup

Lack of TTC coverage agreement prompts Minister to issue second warning

Canada’s Innovation Minister says he will take action if telecom giants fail to agree on wireless coverage for TTC riders.

“If they don’t come to an arrangement together that would serve Canadians, that would increase the coverage, that would increase the 911 services in the subway system in Toronto, we’ll take action, and we’ll make sure that we do what’s right for Canadians,” François-Philippe Champagne said at a press conference Friday.

Rogers announced its plans to take over cellular coverage on the TTC from BAI in early April. At the time, the company said it was open to working with Bell and Telus to ensure all riders have coverage.

On April 19th, the Minister sent the CEOs of Bell, Rogers, Telus, and Québecor a letter asking the companies to work together to provide coverage.

Bell CEO Mirko Bibic responded soon after, calling the transaction “a closed door, backroom deal.” Bibic said the company put a second option on the TTC’s table that would see it buy the contract with Telus with a promise to provide an open network. The TTC rejected the offer soon after.

The constant back and forth, and apparent avoidance of some sort of network agreement, have led to more questions than answers.

Both Bell and Telus told The Canadian Press a “joint build approach” is the best way to go.

“It would result in access for all riders regardless of their cellphone provider, less congestion on the network, ability for the network to continue to operate in the event that one carrier suffers a network outage, and a better overall customer experience,” a Telus spokesperson said.

A Rogers spokesperson told the publication the company is still “committed to working with all carriers.”

Image credit: Shutterstock 

Via: The Canadian Press 

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Mobile Syrup

TTC rejects Bell, says it won’t ‘tear up the contract’ with BAI

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) rejected Bell’s proposal for a joint, open-access model for wireless service on Toronto’s subways.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green told The Canadian Press (via CP24) in an email that the agency wouldn’t “tear up the contract” it had with BAI to move ahead with a joint build as Bell wants:

“The ‘neutral host model,’ where one company builds the infrastructure and others join through an operating agreement, is common practice and works well in other jurisdictions. To suggest, as this letter does, we tear up the contract reached after an open and public bidding process and instead award our wireless services to another consortium without a public tender is a non-starter for the TTC.”

The response comes after Bell CEO Mirko Bibic replied to Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne’s call on major telecoms to reach a deal on wireless access in the subway. Bibic claimed Bell spoke unsuccessfully with the TTC, BAI and City officials multiple times about a joint, open-access model.

As a quick refresher, BAI won the contract for wireless infrastructure in the TTC subway in 2012, but save for Freedom Mobile in 2017, Canada’s major telecom companies refused to sign on with BAI to provide wireless service. Rogers announced earlier this month that it would acquire BAI’s Canadian division and, in turn, gain the rights to build out the TTC’s wireless network.

Green went on to say that the TTC “stands by the public and transparent” open tender process that started in 2009 and culminated with BAI getting the $25 million contract to build and operate the TTC’s wireless network. “Bell willingly participated in that open tender process, ultimately being outbid by $20 million,” Green said.

Moreover, Green called the proposal between Rogers and BAI a “private business transaction/acquisition” and said Bell and other companies “could have entered into [one] at any time over the past 12 years.”

Bell spokesperson Jacqueline Michelis told The Canadian Press that while the 2009 bidding process was open, Rogers’ “acquisition of BAI with TTC approval was not subject to an open bid and other parties, including Bell, were not invited to participate.”

In response to Champagne’s call, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said that Rogers has “been working with the TTC and BAI for over a year to open up access to the transit system” and urged Champagne to “not get caught up in the rhetoric of our competitors.” Staffieri reiterated Rogers’ commitment to working with other service providers.

Header image credit: Shutterstock

Source: The Canadian Press via CP24

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Mobile Syrup

Bell offered to buy BAI contract with Telus, commit to joint TTC build: Bibic

When Rogers announced its deal to acquire BAI Canada, and thus its exclusive rights to provide wireless access to all TTC users, it came as a surprise to Bell.

Mirko Bibic, Bell’s president and CEO, said the company unsuccessfully spoke about building a joint, open-access model with BAI, TTC, and City officials multiple times over the past 10 years.

“This is why we were surprised to learn that the TTC has seemingly approved the transfer of BAI’s exclusive contract to Rogers in what appears to be a closed door, backroom deal,” Bibic wrote. “It is astounding that this important project would be awarded to one party without a transparent open-bid process designed to maximize the benefits for TTC riders.”

Bell also asked the TTC to add a condition of approval to the transfer that would see an open access, joint build model, similar to other local transit systems in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal. The April 19th letter states the transit system was yet to offer a response.

The letter comes after a request from Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne for Bell, Telus, Québecor and Rogers to work together to offer all TTC riders access to wireless services.

Bell has put three options on the table. The first is that Rogers agrees to work with national providers on a joint build. The move involves the companies funding the build but Rogers not charging carriers to access the network.

The second option involves Bell and Telus being allowed to buy the contract through a partnership, committing to an open network. Bibic says the two companies made the offer to the TTC after Rogers announced the acquisition and included a $10 million bonus for the TTC to use on “discretionary projects.”

The third option sees ISED and the CRTC ordering Rogers to commit to an open access, joint build system.

Last week, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said the company was open to discussing connectivity with Bell and Telus. “There’s no intent to prevent any customer, regardless of what network they’re on, to have access within the TTC subway system.”