TAPAC Plenary - 2011 First Meeting

Final Summary Record
Terminal Attachment Program Advisory Committee Meeting

Thursday, May 26, 2011, 13:30-14:35
Industry Canada (IC)
Jean Edmonds Tower North
300 Slater Street, 13^th Floor, Room 1300
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-2011-05-002) was approved with the deletion of "TAPAC-2011- 05-004 Family approval and re-assessment under CS–03", from agenda items 5 and 9.

3. Review of the Summary Record of Last Meeting (Nov 25, 2010)

• The Summary Record of the Nov 25, 2010 meeting (TAPAC-2011-05-001) was approved as written.

4. Membership Review

• Welcomed new members from SaskTel (Bruce Holmes) and MTS (Troy Delaurier).

5. Contributions

6. Reports

6.1 FCC/ACTA/ TIA TR-41

6.1.1 FCC (reported by H. Dawood and M. Mulvihill)

• The FCC released a public notice on December 30, 2010, seeking public comments in 2010 Biennial Review of Telecommunications Regulations with special attention to rules on data gathering.
• On January 31, 2011, the ACTA provided the FCC with comments on the 2010 Biennial Review of Telecommunications Regulations. In its comments, the ACTA recommends that the FCC tightens its enforcement of Part 68 non-compliance and clarifies that VoIP handset telephones must meet HAC and volume control rules in Part 68. This implies that VoIP handset telephones must be listed in the ACTA database of approved terminal equipment.
• On February 22, 2011, the TIA provided the FCC with comments on the 2010 Biennial Review of Telecommunications Regulations, offering support to the ACTA's proposal for the Commission to increase enforcement of Part 68 rules, suggesting: (i) diligent enforcement efforts against violators of Part 68 rules and (ii) issuance of Enforcement Advisory as soon as possible.
• On April 5, 2011, the FCC launched a complete overhaul of the agency's web site - FCC.gov to allow for improved and modernized interaction between the public and the Commission. This is the first major update to the site in ten years.

6.1.2 ACTA (reported by M. Mulvihill and H. Dawood)

• A face to face meeting was held at the Alliance of Telecommunication Industry Solutions headquarters on March 24, 2011. The next meeting will be a virtual meeting to be held on June 16, 2011 followed by a face-to-face meeting on September 15, 2011.
• On January 1, 2011, the ACTA released a new Responsible Party Code (RPC) Data Validation Program. This program provides an online system that permits authorized filers to update and confirm RPC data on an annual basis. The ACTA uses the RPC to establish the connection between the responsible party and the telephone equipment stored in the database. Validation of the RPC is required to ensure that people can be contacted and kept informed. There are over 7000 Responsible Parties in the database.
• VoIP phones have to comply with HAC and other applicable terminal equipment requirements. The ACTA has asked the FCC to clarify if there is intention to have VoIP phone listed with the ACTA.
• The ACTA is actively trying to increase the FCC involvement in ACTA and the enforcement of Part 68. This is evident in their comments for the Biennial review of Telecom Regulations.

6.1.3 TIA TR-41 (reported by M. Mulvihill and H. Dawood)

• Since the last TAPAC meeting in Nov 2010, two TIA TR-41 committee meetings were held: (a) the week of February 7, 2011 at Orlando Florida; and (b) the week of May 16, 2011 at Grapevine Texas. The next TIA meeting will be via teleconference and will occur the week of August 8, 2011.

6.1.3.1 TR-41-9 Activities

• Based on the discussions arising from a contribution at the February 2011 meeting, the subcommittee had asked TR-41 committee to request the FCC update FCC Part 68.317 to reference the current standards for volume control testing, i.e. TIA-810-B, for digital phones and TIA-470.110-C for analog phones. These are in line with the proposed changes to CS–03 Part V.
• At the May 2011 meeting, TR-41.9 agreed to set up a face-to-face meeting with the in June 2011 to discuss the most practical way to implement this change.
• TR41.9 discussed adding an addendum to TSB-31-D for "conversational gain", but will wait to the see what direction TIA-470-110-D is going before starting a project. Target completion date for TIA-470-110-D is February 2012.
• PN-3-3602-RV4, Rationale and Measurement Guidelines for TIA-968, (to become TSB-31- D) is ready for publication.

6.1.3.2 TR-41-7 Activities

• A new working group (WG) TR-41.7.6 was established to handle technical documents as directed by TR-41.7. TR-41.7.6 would be assigned, as an initial project, to work on PN-3- 0339, Ethernet First Mile Overvoltage Tests as previously described.

6.1.3.3 TR-41-3 Activities

• A new WG TR-41.3.14 on Acoustic accessibility for people with hearing loss was formed at the February 2011 meeting to develop a standard for the performance of high-gain amplified telephones for accessibility for the hearing impaired. The new WG had its first meeting in May 2011 and started the work on a draft standard.
• TR-41.3 is also working on the following standards:
  1. ANSI/TIA-PN-4953, Acoustic Performance Requirements and Measurement Methods for High-Gain Amplified Telephones (to become TIA-4953);
  2. PN-3-4350.110-RV4, Handset Acoustic Performance Requirements for Analog Telephones (to become TIA-470.110-D); and
  3. TIA-470.110-D, Handset Acoustic Performance Requirements for Analog Telephone.

6.2 ISO/SCC Activities Review (reported by André Beaudet)

• Laboratory accreditation for CS–03 terminal equipment has been quiet but active in other areas. No new re-assessment for CS–03 since the last report.
• ISO/CASCO WG-29 has issued the ISO/IEC DIS 17065 for comments. ISO Std 17065 will replace ISO Guide 65.
• ISO Standards 17000, 17011, 17025 and 17065 are of interest to TAPAC, therefore, will be included in future reports if there are any future updates.

6.3 CRTC Activities (reported by James Ndirangu)

• Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2011-206 was presented. In this notice, the Commission initiated a proceeding to review the local, wireless, and toll network interconnection regulatory regimes.
• The principle objectives of this proceeding are to determine to what extent:
  • existing interconnection regimes can be simplified and consolidated,
  • changes are necessary to enhance competition and, thus, benefit consumers, and
  • changes are necessary to ensure technological neutrality.
• The Commission will consider each of these objectives in light of recent and any possible future industry developments.The proceeding will include a public hearing in Gatineau, Quebec, which will begin on 24 October 2011 and is expected to last approximately five days. Should additional time be required, the hearing may last until 4 November 2011.

6.4 Telephone Companies Industry Advisories

• There were no new Industry Advisories for this reporting period.
• A question was asked about the requirement for issuing an Industry Advisory with regards to Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) service. The chair clarified that the TAPAC disclosure requirements only apply to new terminal-to-network interfaces or changes to existing terminal-to-network interfaces.

6.5 International Activities

6.5.1 APEC TEL 43 - MRA Task Force (reported by H. Dawood)

• The APEC TEL MRA Task Force met on March 27-28, 2011. There were 36 people representing 12 economies.
• Canada presented a contribution proposing the development of guidelines for the implementation of the MRA on equivalency of technical requirements (MRA-ETR). This MRA was endorsed by APEC TEL Ministers at TELMIN 8 held in Okinawa, Japan on 31, October, 2010.
• A working committee comprising of Canada, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States was formed to further develop this document inter-sessionally and will aim to produce the first draft guideline for discussion in APEC TEL 44 in October 2011.
• Based on the results of the APEC TEL survey on market surveillance conducted in summer 2010 and the interest from economies, Canada proposed the development of a market surveillance guidelines document. The proposal was well received and the TF agreed to develop the guidelines document.

6.5.2 Mexico-Canada MRA under NAFTA (reported by H. Dawood)

• At the February 2011 NAFTA Free Trade Commission meeting in Mexico City, a Joint Statement was released by the NAFTA Trade Ministers reaffirming the three countries commitment to implement two bilateral, legally binding Telecom MRAs: one between the United States and Mexico and another between Canada and Mexico.
• Since then, representatives from Canada, the United States and Mexico have held several teleconferences to advance the negotiations of this MRA.
• A final English text of the MRA has been reached and was reviewed by the legal teams from the three countries. A Spanish and French version of the MRA is now available and is being reviewed by the DFAIT legal team. The target is to have the Canada-Mexico MRA signed at the upcoming NAFTA Free Trade Commission meeting in the late fall of 2011 in Ottawa.

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

• Formal negotiations started last year;
• After several rounds of discussion on the MRA text, a final version of the English text has been agreed upon earlier this year; and
• Review of French and Hebrew translations are in progress.

7. Status of Action Items from the Nov 25, 2010 Meeting

8. Discussion of Contributions

8.1 TAPAC-2011-05-003: Proposal to update Part V of CS–03 (presented by W. Kwan)

• A proposal was made to update RLR requirement for digital telephone handsets in Part V of CS–03. This contribution proposed to replace references to rescinded standards with references to currently active standards. During the discussion on method of measurement it was also decided that the reference to IEEE Std 269 TM-2002 should be replaced by the newer IEEE Std 269TM-2010.
• There were no objections raised, therefore, IC will proceed to make the update before the next TAPAC meeting.

9.0 Next Meeting

• November 24, 2011 meeting to be held at the Certification and Engineering Bureau in Ottawa, Ontario. -
• May 24, 2012 meeting to be held at CRTC in Gatineau, Quebec.