Report to/Rapport au :
Corporate Services and Economic Development
Committee
Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique
and Council/et au Conseil
04 January 2008 / le 04 janvier 2008
Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager /
Directrice
municipale adjointe
Planning,
Transit and the Environment /
Urbanisme,
Transport en commun et Environnement
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Ian Duff,
Acting Manager/Gestionnaire par intérim, Economic Development/Développement
économique, Economic and Environmental Sustainability/Direction de la viabilité
économique et de la durabilité de l’environnement
(613)
580-2424, ext. 22339, Ian.Duff@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT:
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OBJET :
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REPORT RECOMMENDATION
That the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend Council advise the CRTC that it supports the distributed overlay approach to addressing the exhaust of the 613 exchange code in Ottawa.
RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des services organisationnels et
du développement économique recommande au Conseil municipal d’aviser le CRTC
qu’il appuie l’approche du recouvrement réparti en vue de répondre à
l’épuisement de l’indicatif de central 613 à Ottawa.
BACKGROUND
The 613 area code is running out of telephone numbers. Staff has stayed abreast of this development and has participated in the process to develop a plan to alleviate the problem. Essentially, there are two options: a geographic split where one part of the existing 613 area, as illustrated in Document 1 attached is assigned a new area code, and an overlay where the new area code is applied over the entire existing 613 area (or just a portion). Staff supports the new area code being applied over the entire 613 area ("Distributed Overlay"). The estimated cost of this approach is $5M.
The exhaustion of phone numbers within the 613 area code is caused by several factors, including the introduction of competing telecommunications service providers to provide both landline and wireless services and also the introduction of telephone number portability.
The only way to ensure that there are sufficient numbers available on a continuing basis is to allocate a second area code number to the 613 area. This will essentially double the numbers that can be assigned within that area.
In order for a number to be eligible for consideration as a new area code, it should not be the same as the central office codes (the first three numbers after the area code itself) within the affected area code or any contiguous area codes. The reason given is that duplication might cause confusion if a customer was required to use the same three numbers twice in a row to make a call, e.g. 613-613-1234. As such, the only available area code that meets these criteria is 343.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (“CRTC”) has established a process that involves the Canadian Numbering Administrator (“CNA”) to estimate, well in advance, when an area code will likely exhaust its supply of numbers. This is normally six years in advance of anticipated exhaust. In May 2007 the CNA reported that area code 613 would likely exhaust in December 2013.
The CNA is responsible for preparing the Initial Planning Document (“IPD”), which is used as the basis for discussion of various number relief solutions that may be open to telecommunications service providers, users and other interested parties. However, about the time that the CNA produced the IPD, it also provided an update of its area code forecast, which indicated that 613 exhaust would occur substantially earlier than anticipated, namely September 2011. The reason given is that there was an unanticipated surge in demand for numbers this year, in response to a series of CRTC decisions, which had the effect of increasing the demand for numbers within the 613 area.
A 613 Relief Planning Committee (“613 RPC”) was established to consider the solutions presented in the IPD. The City of Ottawa attended the meetings at which the IPD has been considered (the process will continue into early 2008). No other municipalities are represented on the 613 RPC, which is almost exclusively composed of representatives of telecommunications service providers and the CNA itself.
The IPD considers 13 solutions:
- eight involve some form of geographic split, i.e. one region within the 613 area would retain 613 and the other would be given the new number;
- five involve some form of overlay, in which some or all of the 613 area would be given the new number in addition to the existing 613 number.
Staff is recommending that Council support the distributed overlay approach to address the exhaust of the 613 area code. Although there would be a branding opportunity for businesses, etc. in having 613 for Ottawa this is offset by the estimated $50M cost the carriers would likely argue be recovered from the telephone subscribers. An exclusive 613 area code for Ottawa would also cause disruption and concern from multiple municipalities in the rest of eastern Ontario in losing 613. According to the carrier community, the distributed overlay approach will be easier to explain, will be customer neutral and quicker to implement.
ANALYSIS
GEOGRAPHIC SPLIT SOLUTIONS (i.e. City of
Ottawa sole municipality with 613)
a) People Affected
Each of the eight geographic split solutions requires that everyone in that portion of the 613 area that is given the new number, surrender all of their current numbers. The surrendered numbers would then be made available to customers within that portion of the 613 area that retained the 613 area code. Depending on the specific geographic split solution chosen, between 450 000 and 1 250 000 people would be affected by a telephone number change to the new area code. This may understate the number of telephones that would be affected, since one person may have a landline, a wireless phone and one or more business phones.
b) Winners and Losers
Any geographic split solution has the potential to create perceived pros and cons. There is the obvious inconvenience and potential expense associated with having to change one’s residential or business telephone numbers. There may also be the perception that the new number is somehow inferior to 613 – certainly it will be an unknown number in this area. It is a regulatory policy that the introduction of area code relief should be based on consensus and should not favour one group of users over another. If Ottawa were to pursue the geographic split, it may also want to consider consulting with other affected municipalities to ascertain their views and possibly gain their support.
c) Cost
Any geographic split is normally three to four times more expensive for the telecommunications service providers to implement than an overlay solution. In the specific case of 613, because the area is already subject to 10-digit calling, there is a substantial reduction in the cost of implementing an overlay solution that would not accrue to a geographic split. In orders of magnitude, the overall cost to the telecommunications service providers to implement a particular overlay solution, discussed below, would be approximately $5 million; the comparable cost to implement a geographic split would be approximately $50 million, which does not consider business or individual costs that would be incurred.
There is no previously defined mechanism for recovery of these costs from subscribers in the area code affected. Instead, any recovery must come from the general body of telecommunications subscribers. It is likely however, that the carriers would not wish to absorb the $50M cost and would argue that it be recovered by means of a flow-through to their subscribers, thereby affecting consumer pricing for monthly rates and possibly supplemental fees charged for the reprogramming of cellular telephones in the area receiving the new number. As this would be negative for their customers, it is not surprising that the telecommunications service providers prefer an overlay solution.
d) The Logic of Splits
Most of the geographic split solutions are not particularly logical from the perspective of a non-expert in the telecommunications sector, but are based on arcane technical considerations. As such, they may appear to be arbitrary to most people and thus hard to justify.
There is one exception to this statement. One geographic split proposes that the split be between Ottawa and the rest of the 613 area. Under this solution, the entire area that was included in the local calling decision of the CRTC would either retain 613 or be given the new number and the rest of the 613 area would be given the other number. This is a split that would be consistent with the ‘one city’ approach that Ottawa has adopted and it would be easy to explain.
This solution would give Ottawa an opportunity to brand the number (either 613 or the new one) as Ottawa-specific. This may have some marketing appeal both to Ottawa and its businesses; it would be of little benefit from a marketing perspective to residential subscribers, although some might prefer keeping the 613 exchange for simplicity in remembering numbers. Communities and the public in areas affected in this way might take objection to this approach, especially if the proposal was for Ottawa to retain 613 and any recognition that is now associated with it. This solution might be easier to sell to the other municipalities if Ottawa proposed to take the new area code number. It should be noted however that the proposed new number (343, which uses the letters “DEF” “GHI” “DEF”) does not lend itself to any obvious short form word that might be Ottawa-friendly e.g. “YOW” or “OTT”. In addition, for cost reasons noted above, we can expect opposition to any such proposal from the telecommunications service providers.
e) Future Number Exhaust
With a geographic split, the 613 area code will exhaust (and the process of adding a third area code will begin) in about 35 years.
f) Time Constraints
At the meeting of the 613 Relief Planning Committee, a Bell Canada representative stated that it would take about one year longer to implement a geographic split than its preferred solution of a distributed overlay, discussed below. If that were correct, it would take until about September 2011 to complete. That is the current month of anticipated exhaust, which leaves no margin for unanticipated delays.
OVERLAY
APPROACH SOLUTIONS
a) People Affected
Since any overlay solution simply adds a new area code to an existing area as the old area code exhausts, no one is affected in the sense of having to surrender a number. In practice what would happen is that, as the 613 area code exhausted, anyone seeking a new number would be given a number with the new area code as a prefix.
b) Winners and Losers
An overlay treats everyone in the affected area in the same manner. However, as the new number begins to be used, telephone directories will start showing 10-digit numbers, since not everyone in the area will have only the 613 area code. This could make directories more expensive to produce and bulkier. It might also lead to smaller, region-specific books containing fewer total customers.
c) Cost
As noted above, the cost to implement an overlay solution (estimated at $5M) is much less expensive than the geographic split solution (estimated at $50M).
d) The Logic of Overlays
Overlays come in two forms: a concentrated overlay and a distributed overlay. Each of the concentrated overlay solutions would involve introducing the new number only in the fastest growing portion of the overall 613 area. That area would encompass Ottawa or Ottawa and some contiguous portions of the 613 area. The major drawback to any concentrated overlay solution is that it is relatively short term. Because the only real relief is provided to the concentrated overlay area, the portion of the 613 area that is not overlaid would exhaust all 613 numbers by 2017 at the latest.
A distributed overlay is the solution of choice for the telecommunications service providers. This involves introducing the new area code throughout the entire 613 area as existing 613 numbers exhaust. It is easy to understand and everyone in the 613 area is treated the same way. No one is required to change numbers, although over time, residences and businesses wishing to have more than one number may find that they have numbers with both area codes.
e) Future Number Exhaust
With a distributed overlay, the 613 area code will exhaust in 2011. The new area code will not exhaust (and the process of adding a third area code will not begin) until about 2050; this is eight years longer than the Ottawa-based geographic split solution.
f) Time Constraints
Material submitted by Bell Canada to the CNA – which has not yet been tested for accuracy – estimates that it will take about three years to implement a distributed overlay solution in the 613 area. This would be about one year before the anticipated exhaust date of the 613 numbers.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
With a geographic split, and if Ottawa did not retain the 613 area code, all cellular telephone users in Ottawa would be required to visit their dealer within six months of the activation date to have their telephones reprogrammed to the new area code. This will be an inconvenience for all such customers, but a greater inconvenience for rural subscribers, as they would have to travel greater distances to their dealer, likely in an urban shopping centre.
In the case of an overlay, there are no rural implications.
CONSULTATION
The Business Advisory Committee was consulted and although they saw some branding opportunity with a geographic split, they felt that the associated costs and the potential to alienate neighbouring communities outweighed the limited advantage provided.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no immediate financial implications resulting from approval of this report.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document 1 Map of Area Code 613 and Surrounding Area Codes and their Overlay Numbers. The proposed overlay number for 613 is 343.
DISPOSITION
Staff in the Economic Development Division will advise the CRTC and the carriers of Council's decision.
DOCUMENT 1
MAP OF AREA CODE 613 AND SURROUNDING AREA CODES
