To bring improve 911 services to customers of VoIP communications services, Canada’s telcom regulatory agency is now requiring major carriers to modify their contracts, essentially putting them in charge of enforcing certain customer notification requirements. The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued the decision on Wednesday after considering comments from the public and involved companies. The use of 911 over VoIP voice has certain limitations, including a lack of transmitted ANI/ALI, and that voice service may not be available at all during a power outage. The CTRC previously required VoIP carriers to notify their customers of all the limitations at sign-up, and to obtain a physical address for routing 911 calls, much like Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations in the United States. However, the CRTC rules now allow the agency to seek disconnection of VoIP carriers who violate the rules. Download (pdf) the CRTC’s decision here.
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The CRTC is still missing the point.
Fact: VoIP carriers providing home phone service in Canada are not required to provide 911 service to their clients. They are required to offer it, but the price is not regulated and often exceeds the price of regular monthly phone service, leading many clients to skip it.
Fact: In order to avoid liability for mishandled 911 calls, the VoIP carriers actually block access to 911 if the customer has not paid extra for enhanced 911 service. Calls to 911 get a “no service” signal.
Fact: 911 emergency centres in major Canadian cities do not provide any backup access through regular phone lines, making it impossible to make an emergency call from a VoIP line that does not have the extra-cost e911 service.
This is a tragedy waiting to happen.
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