TAPAC Plenary - 2012 First Meeting

Final Summary Record:
Terminal Attachment Program Advisory Committee Meeting

Thursday, May 24th, 2012, 13:30 – 17:00
1 Promenade du Portage, Room 708 (7th Floor)
Gatineau, Quebec

1. Attendance

1.1 Officials and Interested Parties

1.2 Members

2. Review of Proposed Agenda

• The proposed agenda (TAPAC-2012-05-002) was approved as written.

3. Review of the Summary Record of Last Meeting (November 24, 2011)

• The Summary Record of the November 24, 2011 meeting (TAPAC-2012-05-001) was approved as written.

4. Membership Review

• National technical Systems (NTS) was removed from the membership matrix as the company no longer has presence in Canada.

5. Contributions

6. Reports

6.1 FCC/ACTA/ TIA TR-41

6.1.1 FCC/ACTA (reported by E. Guevara)

• Since the last TAPAC meeting on November 24th, 2011, there have been three meetings ofthe ACTA: two virtual meetings on December 01, 2011 and January 19, 2012, followed by a face-to-face meeting on April 12, 2012.
• At the request of ACTA Industry Canada submitted statistics on Terminal Equipment (TE)registered with IC and Market Surveillance activities with regard to TE (submitted for theinformation of TAPAC members as contribution TAPAC-2012-05-005).
• ACTA received a request from TIA Subcommittee TR-41.9 about a number of plug and jackmanufacturers who incorrectly reference compliance with Part 68, Subpart F of the FCCrules (which no longer exists) instead of ANSI/TIA-1096-A, Telecommunications – Telephone Terminal Equipment – Connector Requirements for Connection of TerminalEquipment to the Telephone Network. TR-41 requested ACTA's assistance in makingmanufacturers aware that they need to be ensuring compliance of their products toANSI/TIA-1096-A (published in 2006 and completed in 2008) and should cite this standardin their product literature. In response to this request ACTA issued Public Notice No. 12-01on May 15, 2012.
• The WG on FCC/ACTA Submission Guidelines met in February 2012 to review theimplementation of a proposed "Manufacture Permanently Discontinued Date" issue whichwas arose by Responsible Parties who have contacted the Secretariat to inquire whether theyneed to validate or not their Responsible Party Code (RPC) Data if their company was nolonger producing the product. The WG is recommending that no changes are made to thecurrent RPC Data Validation policy.
• The next meeting of the ACTA is scheduled for July 26, 2012.

6.1.2 TIA TR-41 User Premises Telecommunications Requirements (reported by H. Dawood)

• The last TR-41 meeting was held the week of February 27, 2012 in San Antonio, Texas

6.1.2.1 TR-41.3 Activities (Analog and Digital Wireline Terminals)

• The ballot for draft proposed standard, Receive Volume Control Requirements for Digitaland Analog Wireline Terminals (to become ANSI/TIA-4965), closed after the February meeting on March 10, 2012. However, the ballot fell 1 short of meeting the 50% return ruleand was not considered a valid ballot. TIA will do the ballot again. A new date will be given at the upcoming TIA meeting.
• Editing work on PN-3-4705.120-RV1, Transmission Requirements for Digital Wireline Speakerphones (to become TIA-920.120-A), was concluded at this meeting. The subcommittee agreed to send the draft standard for a committee ballot. The target completiondate is June, 2012.
• Document ANSI/TIA-4953, Acoustic Performance Requirements and MeasurementMethods for High-Gain Amplified Telephones, was published on May 14, 2012.

6.1.2.2 TR-41.3 TR-41.9 Activities (Technical and Administrative Regulatory Considerations)

• The subcommittee TR41.9 approved sending the addendum to TIA-968-B-1 for publicationand to forward to the ACTA for public review and adoption. The addendum updates several informative references and corrects errors in several tables and figures related to VDSL2.
• The subcommittee completed the work on an addendum to TSB-31-D to correct the HAC/VCtest methods in Section 14. The subcommittee agreed to send the addendum out for ballot after a final review by the subcommittee.

• The next TIA-TR41 meeting is scheduled for June 4 – 8, 2012 in Grapevine, Texas.

6.2 ISO/SCC Activities (reported by André Beaudet)

• ISO/IEC Guide 65 is in the process of being replaced by a new ISO/IEC Standard 17065.
• The draft standard ISO/IEC 17065 is at the FDIS stage (Final Draft International Standard).The FDIS was sent for final ballot (two month period) on May 17, 2012, and it is expected to pass. The standard is targeted for publication approximately in August 2012.
• A transition period will be set for the full implementation of the standard. The IAF Technical Committee has agreed to a three year transition period, subject to resolution at the IAF General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in October 2012. A Transition Guideline Paper will be released publicly, confirming the date and transition policy.
• As directed by the Asian Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) MRA Council, an evaluation of Standards Council of Canada (SCC) was conducted from 6-10 June2011. The evaluation was also conducted as a joint evaluation for the Inter AmericanAccreditation Cooperation (IAAC).
• There were no findings related to CS–03 accreditation by SCC to report.

6.3 CRTC Activities (reported by James Ndirangu)

• An update on Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2012-24, Network Interconnection for Voice Services, was provided.
• In this decision, the Commission establishes a set of principles to facilitate full IP voice network interconnection between network operators and provides directions on how these principles would be implemented.
• The Commission did not set an absolute time frame for the implementation of IP voicenetwork interconnection arrangements
• Carriers are required to accept requests and begin negotiations for IP voice networkinterconnection arrangements, after February 21, 2012.
• The end result the Commission would like to see is a smooth transition from the PSTN basedto the IP based network while ensuring that security, network protection and consumershaving access to services is maintained.

6.4 Telephone Companies Industry Advisories

• One industry advisory on 9-1-1 PERS terminal-to-network interface (BID-0013 version 15) was disclosed by Bell Canada.

6.5 International Activities

6.5.1 APEC TEL 45 – MRA Task Force (reported by P. Chau)

• The APEC TEL 45 – MRA Task Force met on 5-11 April, 2012. There were 30 delegates representing 13 economies
• Canada and Vietnam exchanged letters officially announcing their readiness to implement Phase I of the APEC TEL MRA-CA. Canada and Vietnam also agreed to commencenegotiations of Phase II within one year following the implementation of Phase I.

• China proposed implementing Phase I of the MRA-CA with Canada. The scope of the proposed implementation will initially cover only terminal equipment as a confidencebuilding stage. Once the objectives of the confidence building stage are achieved, the scopewill be expanded to include radio equipment. The proposal still requires endorsement byMIIT. A decision by MIIT is expected by APEC TEL 46, in late July 2012.
• Thailand is ready to accept test reports performed by qualified foreign testing laboratories.This will be done outside of the APEC TEL MRA and is a government-to-industry initiative. Testing Laboratories are required to be ISO/IEC 17025 accredited.
• A stable draft of the MRA ETR Implementation Guidelines was reached at the end of the meeting. Economies were asked to commence the necessary internal stakeholder review suchthat consensus can be achieved prior to the APEC TEL 46 meeting in late July.
• The next APEC TEL meeting will be held during 28 July – 3 August, 2012.

6.5.2 Canada-Mexico MRA under NAFTA (reported by P. Chau)

• The Canada-Mexico MRA was tabled in the House of Commons in February 2012. An Order in Council for ratification was issued on April 26, 2012.
• It is expected that the MRA will enter into force in June 2012 once the exchange of diplomatic notes between Canada and Mexico is complete.
• A training session to Mexican requirements is in the planning phase.

6.5.3 Canada-Israel MRA (reported by E. Guevara)

• An Order in Council requesting authority to sign the Canada-Israel MRA was approved in April 2012.
• The current plan is to have the MRA signed in Israel in June 2012.

7. Status of Action Items from the May 26, 2011 Meeting

8. Discussion of Contributions

8.1 TAPAC-2012-05-003: Update to CS–03 Part III (presented by J. Cooper)

• The contribution proposes that CS–03 Part III be updated to reference the latest revision of TIA -968.
• The TAPAC committee approved the contribution with the following modifications:
  • Deletion of the statement "TIA-968-A can be downloaded from the Administrative Council for Terminal Attachment Web site"; and
  • Inclusion of the full title for TIA -968-B: Telecommunications Telephone TerminalEquipment Technical Requirements for Connection of Terminal Equipment to the Telephone Network).

8.2 TAPAC-2012-05-004: Draft Guidelines for the Implementation of MRA ETR (presented by H.Dawood)

• This contribution provides a draft guideline to facilitate the implementation of MRA-ETR. The draft guideline was developed by the APEC TEL MRA Task Force at APEC TEL 45 in April 2012.
• Main highlights of the draft guideline:
  • The scope covers only full equivalency of technical requirements. Partial equivalency, administrative and labelling requirements are not part of the scope.
  • Request for equivalency and preparation of detailed justification is to be provided by the industry.
  • If a standard where equivalency has been recognized is modified or changed, the equivalency is automatically terminated.
• TAPAC members were invited to provide their comments on the draft guideline by June 8th, 2012.

8.3 TAPAC-2012-05-005: Terminal Attachment Program 2007-2011 Statistics

• E. Guevara presented statistics on the applications for registration of telecommunications terminal equipment (TTE) received by Industry Canada during the period 2007-2011, as well as a summary of audits done during the same period.
• Nemko Canada suggested that Industry Canada considers doing inter-laboratory testing(round-robin), especially on ROLR to validate compliance of equipment.
• Given the relatively high percentage of non-compliance, carriers were asked whether theyhave experienced any problems on the network side. MTS Allstream indicated that they do come across non-compliances on the network side; however, these are dealt with internally without involving Industry Canada.
• Carriers agreed to start documenting non-compliances to share with Industry Canada.However, the carriers expressed that they need to understand Industry Canada's types of audits in order to understand the type of information that IC would like to collect from them.

9. Other Business

9.1 Review of TAPAC Mandate

• The TAPAC Chair posed a few questions concerning the future role of TAPAC in order to assess its relevance under the current environment.
• MTS Allstream stressed that carriers' networks still require protection under the current network harm criteria:
  • Damage to network components by excessive electrical energy or improper connections,
  • Interference with the normal functioning of network equipment including billing equipment,
  • Electrical energy that is hazardous to the carriers' personnel, and
  • Degradation of service
• Bell Canada and SaskTel had the same view. It was noted that copper loops are still predominant in the last mile and network protection is still needed.
• Carrier representatives pointed out that they are new in this committee and they need to familiarize themselves with the TAPAC mandate and the work of the committee.

• The CRTC stated that decision Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2012-24, Network Interconnection for Voice Services, revealed that the industry does not know how and whenthe transition of the copper network into IPwill take place.
• The Chair concluded that still seems to be a need for TAPAC because copper facilities are still predominant in the access network. However, there is a need to revisit and redefine themandate of TAPAC to reposition ourselves for the future.

10. Next Meeting

• November 29, 2012 meeting will be held at Industry Canada (300 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C8) from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm.
  
  The toll-free number for the conference bridge is 1-877-413-4792 (or local: 613-960-7516), and participant pass-code is "8760331". Please confirm your intention to attend either in person or via the conference bridge with Wen Kwan; at (613) 993-8435 or e-mail: wen.kwan@canada.ca by November 20, 2012.
• May 23, 2013 meeting will be held at Nemko Canada Inc. in Ottawa, Ontario.