TAPAC Plenary - 2010 Second Meeting

Final Summary Record
Terminal Attachment Program Advisory Committee Meeting

Thursday, November 25, 2010, 13:30-15:30
Standards Council of Canada (SCC)
Krentz Meeting Room
270 Albert Street, Suite 200 (2^nd Floor)
Ottawa, Ontario

1. Attendance

1.1 Officials and Interested Parties

1.2 Members

Attendance legend:
* - by teleconference
P - Present
A - Absent

2. Review of Proposed Agenda

• The proposed agenda (TAPAC-2011-11-002) was approved with the addition of the following item:
  • 9 Other Business – Family approval under CS–03

3. Review of the Summary Record of Last Meeting (May 27, 2010)

• The Summary Record of the May 27, 2010 meeting (TAPAC-2011-11-001) was approved with the following changes:
  • Correction to M. Mulvihill’s e-mail address – matthew.mulvihill@canada.ca
  • Malcolm Winter (SaskTel) attended the May 2010 meeting via conference call.

4. Membership Review

• The TAPAC Secretariat sent a letter to TELUS regarding membership.
  • TELUS regrets that they will no longer be participating in the TAPAC committee.
  • TELUS has been removed from the TAPAC membership.

5. Contributions

6. Reports

6.1 ACTA/ TIA TR-41

6.1.1 ACTA

• M. Mulvihill reported that the ACTA met on September 9, 2010.
• Concerns were heard regarding the decrease of filing to TIA-968. The ACTA feels that the lack of enforcement is one of the main issues for the decrease.
• A working group made three main conclusions where people are not following the rules:
  • unfair playing field;
  • HAC requirements not met; and
  • accredited CB's not doing their jobs properly.
• A complaint issued by Bob Buck, the president of Telephone Equipment Supply Inc, was reviewed. Mr. Buck has seen devices that draw around 1200 to 1700 uA from the PSTN; he states the limit is 50uA in Part 68. Industry Canada looked into some of the devices presented and did not find any offered for sale on the Canadian market.
• Trone Bishop gave a presentation titled, Smart Grid Communications Overview and its possible effect on the PSTN. An ad hoc working group was created to watch activities on Smart Grid communications.

6.1.2 TIA TR-41

• M. Mulvihill reported that the TIA TR-41committee: User Premises Telecommunications Requirements, held two meetings since the last TAPAC meeting; the first was a virtual meeting in August 2010 and the second a face-to-face meeting in November 2010.
• During the August meeting the surge repetition rate comments received by the TAPAC secretariat were presented. The committee decided not to modify the regulatory requirements, and that the best course of action was to add an informative annex to TIA TSB-31-D.
• During the November meeting the TIA TR-41.9 sub-committee: Technical and Administrative Regulatory Requirements, invited members to submit contributions towards the topic entitled, Wireline Viability and Why it is necessary in today's NGN.
• The committee continued work on TIA TSB-31-D (Telephone Terminal Equipment Rationale and Measurement Guidelines for U.S. Network Protection); the draft document will go for a 30 day industry ballot upon finalizing the editorial changes.
• TIA TR-41.3 has begun revising TIA-470.110-D (Telecommunications - Telephone Terminal Equipment - Handset Acoustic - Performance Requirements for Analog Terminals). This work must be followed closely as CS–03 Part V references this document as a measurement guide and for the RLRnominal levels. Some key changes that are expected include the removal of RLR since the group finds that this method is irrelevant with today's new technologies. When a phone has AGC (Automatic GainControl), RLR will give incorrect result. RLR will be replaced by loudness level and an annex will be introduced to show how RLR relates to loudness level. The draft document states that the use of a sign wave signal is not acceptable, and that the ITU-T P.50 test signal is also not recommended to be used. The standard calls for the use of real speech for anything greater than a narrowband phone. Real speech signal are available with the purchase of the newly published IEEE-269-2010 (Standard Methods for Measuring Transmission Performance of Analog and Digital Telephone Sets, Handsets, and Headsets). This must be studied since CS–03 Part V calls for the use of both P.50 and sine waves as test signals.
• The next TR-41 meeting will be held in February 2011.

6.2 ISO SCC Activities Review

• André Beaudet (SCC) reported that two labs are accredited for CS–03 .

6.3 CRTC Activities

• The CRTC will provide a report on their activities at the May 2011 meeting.

6.4 Telephone Companies Industry Advisories

• There were no Industry Advisories for this reporting period.

6.5.1 APEC TEL 42 - MRA Task Force

• E. Guevara reported that the MRA Task Force met on August 2-3, 2010. There were 32 people from 14 economies.
• The Task Force has completed the development of a second MRA for telecommunications equipment:the subject of this MRA is Equivalency of Technical Requirements. The MRA ETR has been approved at the APEC TEL plenary and was endorsed at the Eighth APEC Ministerial meeting on Telecommunications and Information Technology in Okinawa, Japan.
• The Task Force analyzed the results of a survey on Market Surveillance (MS) initiated at the previous meeting. Ten economies responded and all of them indicated that MS guidelines would be helpful, and most respondents are willing to share MS results. The consensus was that the Task Force should proceed to develop Market Surveillance guidelines. Canada was given the task of providing a first outline of MS guidelines at the next meeting of APEC TEL.
• The Task Force also decided to develop implementation Guidelines for the MRA-ETR.
• The next meeting of APEC TEL is scheduled for the last week of March 2011.

6.5.2 CITEL - XV11 PCC 1 Meeting of the CITEL MRA Group

• E. Guevara reported that the MRA rapporteur group met on November 3, 2010.
• Representatives from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico have met face-to-face in Mexico City (February 2010) and in Ottawa (August 2010) and have held several teleconferences this year in order to negotiate an MRA on Conformity Assessment for Telecommunications Equipment that takes into account some changes to the CITEL MRA proposed by Mexico. The three countries have agreed on a new MRA text that takes into account Mexico’s requirements and retains the procedures of the CITEL MRA unchanged. At the upcoming NAFTA meeting of International Trade Ministers in Mexico next month, there will be a communiqué announcing the intention of implementing two bilateral, legally binding MRAs: one between the United States and Mexico and another between Canada and Mexico.
• In a survey similar to the one carried out at APEC, the CITEL countries showed interest in starting a project in Market Surveillance. Canada presented a “Proposal for the Development of Guidelines for Market Surveillance of Telecommunications Equipment.” The proposal was well received by the group and as a result, the group agreed to start work in Market Surveillance Guidelines, with the commitment from 6 countries to bring contributions.
• The next meeting of CITEL PCC 1 is scheduled for the first week of March 2011. 7. Status of Action Items from the May 27, 2010 Meeting Action: The TAPAC Secretariat to send a reminder to MTS of their obligation to disclose Industry Advisories through TAPAC even if they do not maintain a web-page for disclosures.

7. Status of Action Items from the May 27, 2010 Meeting

8. Discussion of Contributions

8.1 Proposal to update test methods for Part II, VI, and VII of CS–03 (TAPAC-2010-11-003)

• In contribution TAPAC-2010-11-003, M. Mulvihill presented a proposal to update the methods of measurement for Parts II, VI and VII of CS–03 . This contribution adds or improves test methods and circuit diagrams in Parts II, VI and VII to align with TSB-31-D. There were no objections raised, therefore, IC is proceeding with making the update before the next TAPAC meeting.

9.0 Other Business

• S. Beck from Nemko raised an issue with family approval and re-assessment under CS–03 . Adding a new model in a family has been identified as an issue when older family models have reached their end of life. There will be a new contribution on this topic for further discussion at the next TAPAC meeting.

10.0 Next Meeting

• The next TAPAC meeting will be held at Industry Canada in Ottawa, on Thursday, May 26, 2011. The subsequent TAPAC meeting will be held at the CEB in Ottawa, on Thursday, November 24, 2011. The CRTC volunteered to host the May 2012 meeting.