You might recall that after the nationwide outage in July, Rogers was told by the CRTC to serve up an explanation as to what happened and what they’re going to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Which Rogers did do. Though some details were redacted which makes it look like Rogers has something to hide. Regardless, that document wasn’t good enough for the CRTC based on this:
This letter is in relation to the national service outage experienced by Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (Rogers) that began on 8 July 2022 and is in reply to Rogers’ response dated 22 July 2022 to the Commission’s request for information (the Response). The Response provided valued information for the Commission to understand the cause of the outage, impact of the outage and immediate steps to mitigate the impact.
Since the Response, Rogers has made public statements about measures to reduce the likelihood of similar events as well as address consumers’ concerns. To better understand the impact of the event, mitigating measures as well as these recent announcements, further information is required for the Commission to assess this situation.
Given the seriousness of this event, and while the Commission considers the complaints and calls for a public inquiry before it, Rogers is to provide, by 15 August 2022, comprehensive answers, including rationale and any supporting information, to the questions included in the attachment.
This letter and any subsequent correspondence will be placed on the public record. Should Rogers designate any information in its response as confidential pursuant to section 39 of the Telecom Act, an abridged version of the response must be provided for the public record. Note that, in accordance with its normal practices, the Commission may disclose or require the disclosure of information designated as confidential if its disclosure is in the public interest, i.e., where any specific direct harm likely to result from disclosure does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure.
First off, you’ll note that the request for Rogers to provide this information by August 15th. But Rogers has asked for more time. Specifically August 22nd.
Regardless, this is what the CRTC is looking for answers on:
- A cost breakdown of the $250 million that Rogers is saying that it is going to spend to make its network more resilient
- Implementation timelines and information on how separating networks will improve resilience
- They want to know why Rogers is spending $10 billion in Artificial Intelligence and further testing and oversight and why that’s going to make a difference
- Rogers has to provide details on the direct economic losses of the outage and confirmation if residential and small business customers receive the credit the company promised
Read from a cynical point of view, it sounds like the CRTC believes that Rogers is just putting stuff out there that they have no intention of doing in hopes of making the blowback from their outage go away, and the CRTC wants proof that they will actually follow through. It also sounds like the CRTC is for once doing its job. Which means that when Rogers puts out their response next week, it will not only be worth reading, but it will likely be a means to hold the troubled telco’s feet to the fire.