This is not an INTERVENTION on specific applications or proposed policies issued by the Commission, but a complaint about a business practice by Bell Canada.
Today (1996-06-21), I received a telephone bills for the month. I was shocked to see that the charge for the 9-1-1 service charge has jumped from $0.64 CAD per month to $3.16 CAD per month, before taxes, for 2 analog lines and 1 ISDN line.
I found that the "9-1-1 municipal charge" of $0.47 CAD was newly introduced as of this month, in addition to the "9-1-1 emergency service charge" which I was previously paying. This is a justifiable charge to defray the cost borne by the municipality.
Upon closer investigation, however, I discovered that the charge is doubled for the Bell Microlink ISDN service. I immediately complained to Bell Canada, and was told that the charge is levied per telephone number. However, the facts are the following.
Although the ISDN line has 2 (two) 64 Kb/s channels, my usage would be to use them together in a "bonded" configuration to access the Internet, as encouraged by Bell Canada who advertises the Z@p ISDN service as having the speed of 128 Kb/s.
In Bell Canada's Z@p ISDN advertisement campaign, there is no mention of having to pay double the "9-1-1 emergency service charge" and double the "9-1-1 municipal charge", in addition to the 9-1-1 service charges for the analog line that the customer is very likely to have already. In fact, it is advertised as a way to access the Internet, not for voice, let alone for calling 9-1-1! I don't own any equipment to use the ISDN line for voice at all. Bell Canada does not even carry ISDN telephone sets at their Bell Phonecentres.
The filing application to CRTC and approval by CRTC for the Z@p ISDN service is listed in Bell Infocom publication under "Data Network Services" instead of "Voice Network Services". The text reads "Z@p ISDN service is primarily intended for consumers who are heavy Internet users and/or have a home office", not voice. In fact, the accompanying table entitled "Microlink - Today's Offerings" reads "Voice Features: None at this time" for the Z@p ISDN service.
The ISDN line requires separate electrical power to operate. In an emergency situation where the electrical power is cut off, both of the ISDN channels are useless. Only analog lines would work to call 9-1-1. Bell Canada technician says that the users should have an uninterruptible power supply, but Bell Canada does not even supply NT1 or TA.
The ISDN line uses only 1 twisted pair of copper for the 2 channels. Thus, the physical installation and maintenance are not double because the ISDN line requires only 1 cable and 1 jack, unlike 2 analog lines which require 2 separate connectors, if not 2 jacks.
Only 1 of the 2 ISDN channels is declared as the "primary" number to be listed in the telephone directory. The other number is NOT LISTED even though I do not pay for having the number unlisted.
Bell officer has informed me that in the case of a Centrex line, there is only 1 (one) 9-1-1 service charge even though one hundred telephone numbers can be assigned to one hundred telephone sets in a single premise.
Even though I have multiple telephone lines, Bell Canada distributes only 1 set of telephone directories (White Pages, Yellow Pages) to my household. It is logical, therefore, that there be 1 charge for the 9-1-1 charge per household.
Given these facts that expose inconsistencies in policy application, I would like to ask the CRTC to clarify the distinction between "telephone line" and "telephone number", and instruct Bell Canada to modify the implementation regarding 9-1-1 service charges for the ISDN lines.
