Canada's PSBN Moving Forward on Governance

Canada is finally moving forward with a key public consultation on Public Safety Broadband Network (PSBN) governance - due October 8th, 2024. It's now time to plan and build Canada's lifesaving PSBN system for our generation, and generations to come.

PSBN Federal Consultation on Governance - URL: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/policing/emergencies/consultation-governance-framework-psbn/discussion-paper-consultation-governance-framework-psbn.html

As a telecom engineer heavily involved in policy discussions on the PSBN dossier for many years, I applaud the Federal Government for finally moving forward on this important policy dossier, which has the potential to help save countless lives over the next 25 years in Canada.

The outcome of this public consultation will (hopefully) be the setup of a national governance entity that will in turn help drive forward operationalization of spectrum, infrastructure and services for a lifesaving PSBN system for 911 services across Canada.

But this consultation is also much more - and will have a generational impact on how telecom services are rolled out in Canada for decades to come. It's important we get this policy update right!

This important public consultation gives all Canadians the opportunity to comment & offer ideas & suggestions in support of a generational decision on how to best deploy & govern a Public Safety Broadband Network (PSBN) - as a supplemental to 4G / 5g cellular commercial services. While only a first step related to governance - this is an important first step that will set the table for a future consultation on final conditions of license for spectrum, and plans for national infrastructure and services.

This PSBN governance consultation also offers the golden opportunity for PSBN to drive not only 911 field operations improvements, but also improvements to linked telecom policy problems.

To date, we have seen many examples - year-after-year - of consistent failings in status-quo telecommunications services & policy in Canada that also impact emergency 911 field operations, ranging from:

i.) recent nation-wide cellular carrier outages in recent years on "good days" (e.g., 2022 and 2023's national carrier outages - through to small-scale outages impacting regional municipalities) attesting to the weak state of resiliency and reliability in the current design of commercial "best-effort" 3G / 4G and 5G cellular networks;

ii.) telecom failures during disasters which have impacted 911 emergency response (e.g., Hurricane Dorian and Fiona, BC's annual flooding events, recent Ft. McMurray wildfires, and many more such examples of telecom services failing during disasters - which compounds the risk of death during these crises);

iii.) failures in telecom services for 911 response & public access in urban areas during mass gathering events (e.g., Raptors Day Parade in Toronto, & many other smaller urban gatherings across Canada) + related failures in cellular access at common public areas (e.g., TTC underground subway coverage problems that risked Canadian lives in underground passageways in Toronto for the better part of 10 years);

iv.) failures in bridging Canada's chronic rural & First Nations digital divide, which disadvantages Canadians & risks lives in underserved areas with lack of cellular 911 access;

v.) failures in terms of the proven high cost of Canada's telecom services - consistently shown to be among the highest in the industrialized world, with peer nations at similar population density beating Canada on cost;

vi.) failures in past policy approaches to interoperability and interconnection of legacy LMR systems (i.e., Land Mobile Radio = two-way / "walkie-talkie" radio) for First Responders which have resulted in disjointed and piecemeal coverage and interconnectivity for 911 field operations in Canada;

vii.) failure to allocate RF spectrum to foster secure wireless services access for the specialized telecom needs of critical infrastructure entities such as electric utilities & mass transit / freight rail operations, which impacts their ability to modernize operations and enact digital transformation initiatives for greater efficiency + better safety of these essential services;

These are just some of the current failings that a strong and well-crafted PSBN policy can help fix - not just for better telecommunications voice & data access for First Responders in the course of lifesavings 911 field operations, but for improving access to telecommunications services and improved, cost-effective cellular access for *all Canadians*.

It is time for Canada to correct these and other linked policy failings, and to devise a PSBN governance and operational model that is suited to Canada's unique operational challenges, given our vast service territory, difficult geography, multi-carrier service regions, and federated government structures.

A cost-effective & well governed PSBN is an important policy pillar for future resilient & reliable wireless broadband access for all of Canada's First Responders (Police, Fire, Paramedics) & Canada's critical infrastructure entities (electric utilities, energy, rail, transit and transportation operators) for the purpose of lifesaving communications in day-to-day operations and disaster response scenarios.

Personally, I will be responding with my views and proposals via the work of the not-for-profit PSBN Innovation Alliance (PIA) association in the weeks ahead, and also through independent submission of my past policy innovations and ideas. I look forward to sharing my ideas and helping drive to consensus in building an optimal resilient, reliable and cost-effective plan for PSBN services in Canada - to improve lifesaving 911 telecom access for all Canadians.

I encourage all interested Canadians to offer their views & opinions on this key consultation that will help shape telecom policy for the next 25 years, and which will help improve 911 emergency communications for our generation & generations to come!

Phil Crnko, M.A.Sc.,P.Eng.

President, Black Castle Networks Inc.

Co-Founder, PSBN Innovation Alliance