But modems already removed from network can’t be redeployed
GATINEAU — CNOC members who are third-party Internet access (TPIA) customers of Eastlink and prefer to use Technicolor’s TC4350 model of cable modem will be glad to hear the CRTC ruled Wednesday Eastlink can’t remove Technicolor modems from its approved list.
However, any Technicolor modems which Competitive Network Operators Consortium members in recent months may have removed from Eastlink’s network, under the directive of Eastlink itself, can’t be redeployed even though the modem model is still on the approved list of modems.
The Commission’s decision regarding an ongoing dispute between Eastlink and its TPIA customers over the removal of defective modems on its network comes after the parties involved have been in a holding pattern on the issue for several months, primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nobody disputes the need to fix or remove the defective modems — in this case, two specific batches of Technicolor TC4350 cable modems manufactured during weeks 35 and 37 of 2018, which were reporting incorrect downstream radio frequency levels and creating false alerts on the network which needed to be investigated.
Back on September 24, 2019, Eastlink gave its TPIA customers 30 days to remove not only the defective modems from its network, but also all of the modem units produced in the affected batches, regardless of whether or not they were known to be defective or had exhibited the RF reporting fault. Eastlink went a step further and gave its TPIA customers six months’ notice the Technicolor modem model in question would be removed from its approved TPIA modem list, effective March 24, 2020.
In mid-November 2019, on behalf of its members, CNOC asked Eastlink to revise its notice to specify only defective modems need be removed from its network. In addition, having been told by Technicolor the defective modems could be recalibrated to fix the problem, CNOC also asked Eastlink to allow recalibrated modem units to be redeployed.
Eastlink responded to CNOC, defending its decision to delete the modems from the list, however, it said it would grandfather modem units already deployed on its network as long as they were not produced in the two batches containing defective units.
Between the time of Eastlink’s initial notification to its TPIA customers in September 2019 and CNOC’s January Part 1 application asking for CRTC intervention, thousands of Technicolor modems (both defective and properly functioning ones) had been removed from Eastlink’s network by CNOC members. CNOC says in its application that Eastlink threatened CNOC members with disconnection if they didn’t remove all modems within the specified manufacturing batches.
In its January application, CNOC argued Eastlink’s response to “minor issues” in “a small batch” of Technicolor modems was disproportionate, and had subjected some CNOC members to significant costs, having to remove “perfectly serviceable equipment” and obtain a “redundant supply of alternate modems” to replace Technicolor modems for existing customers.
“More significantly, Eastlink’s unjustified decision to discontinue its support of the TC Modems deprives CNOC members of their preferred choice of cable modems for use in conjunction with Eastlink TPIA services. Eastlink’s conduct therefore subjects its TPIA customers to an undue and unreasonable disadvantage, contrary to subsection 27(2) of the Act and is also not consistent with a reasonable interpretation of its TPIA tariff,” reads CNOC’s application.
In a January 30th letter to both Eastlink and CNOC, Commission said it would expedite CNOC’s application, setting a February 10 deadline for Eastlink’s response and a February 13 deadline for CNOC’s reply. The Commission also made it clear Eastlink was not to remove the Technicolor modems from its supported TPIA modem list until the Commission issued its decision on CNOC’s application, if it didn’t rule on the matter before March 24 (the date Eastlink had set for the removal of the modems from its approved list).
Responding February 10, Eastlink said significant effort and costs had resulted from having to investigate and respond to service calls that turned out to be the result of faulty Technicolor modems deployed by its TPIA customers, as well as having to address the non-compliance of TPIA customers who failed to remove the defective modems. In addition, continuing to allow TPIA customers to add Technicolor modems exposed Eastlink’s network to vulnerabilities, which was a risk it wasn’t willing to accept, the company said. Eastlink said at one point it decided to remove the Technicolor modems from its regular network monitoring reports to avoid wasting resources to respond to false alerts. Eastlink said its decision to remove the Technicolor modems from its approved list was consistent with its tariff.
“Choice of TPIA modems is very important to TPIA customers. CNOC members establish their supply of TPIA modems based on a myriad of considerations including technical capability and unit price,” CNOC wrote in its reply to Eastlink’s intervention. “Not only does the removal of TC Modems from the approved list impose unreasonable and undue disadvantage on TPIA customers going forward, it also imposes immediate and significant costs on TPIA customers without justification.”
CNOC also argued Eastlink’s decision to remove the Technicolor modems from its approved list was inconsistent with “a reasonable interpretation” of its tariff. After several months of no word on the matter, with Covid-19 having interrupted and delayed many CRTC proceedings, the Commission issued its decision on October 21.
In the first part of its ruling, the Commission says Eastlink’s requirement for its TPIA customers to remove from its network the model of Technicolor modem produced in the two specific batches constitutes a disadvantage towards its TPIA customers, but it is not undue. However, the Regulator then determined Eastlink’s decision to remove the Technicolor modem from its approved list was inconsistent with its TPIA general tariff, and as such, it directed Eastlink to rescind its notice to remove the Technicolor modem from its approved list of TPIA modems.
The Commission’s ruling regarding the tariff hinged on its interpretation of the “ambiguous” wording of Section 9.2 of the tariff, saying “the more accurate interpretation is that Eastlink would need to make a change to its network that renders the Technicolor modem incompatible with or no longer able to connect to its network in order to remove it from the approved list.”
As the Technicolor modem was previously certified to operate on Eastlink’s network, and Eastlink has agreed to grandfather units already deployed on its network, the Commission said that indicated the Technicolor modem continues to be compatible with Eastlink’s network. Given all this, the Commission determined Eastlink can’t rely on the tariff to support its decision to remove the Technicolor modem from its approved list.
In the second part of its ruling, the Commission denied CNOC’s request to allow the reintroduction of Technicolor modems manufactured in the same two batches but not confirmed to be defective, or to allow defective units that had been recalibrated by Technicolor to be reintroduced on Eastlink’s network.
The Commission said Eastlink should not be required to accept the reintroduction of potentially defective modems or recalibrated units on its network. In the first case, the Commission said Eastlink shouldn’t have to expend time and resources to monitor potentially defective units, or risk network vulnerabilities by removing them from ongoing monitoring. In the second case, there was no guarantee the recalibrated modems would not re-exhibit the same RF reporting error that necessitated their removal in the first place, given the fact Technicolor itself said it had not identified the root cause of the problem.
So as it stands now, Technicolor modems are still on Eastlink’s approved list (against its wishes), and Technicolor modems from the two specified batches which have already been removed from the network cannot be redeployed by Eastlink’s TPIA customers (contrary to their wishes).
