Telephone (905) 468-3266
Facsimile (905) 468-2959

1593 Four Mile Creek Road
P.O. Box 100
Virgil, Ontario
L0S 1T0
Submitted on:
November 06, 2020
Report:CS-20-026
Report To:Corporate Services Advisory Committee
Subject:Cellular Voice and Data - Telus 36 Month Contract Renewal

1. RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that:
1.1 that Council approve the renewal of the Town's mobility contract with Telus using Option 3 as detailed in this report.

2. PURPOSE / PROPOSAL
The purpose of this report is to approve the renewal of cellular voice and data proposal submitted by Telus. Staff are requesting Council to consider section 13 of the Town's Procurement Policy for a negotiated procurement procedure to renew an existing contact. The cellular market is extremely competitive. After reviewing available options Staff have come to the conclusion that slightly cheaper plans are available, but budget savings would not be recognized in the initial term of a new contract due to conversion and implementation costs. In subsequent terms savings appear to be nominal under current market conditions.

Telus has, with its network partnership with Bell on the current LTE network, the necessary voice and fast LTE data coverage throughout the Town and Niagara. This is available with the Towns current compliment of smart phones, tablets and GPS enabled units.

The Town currently has 75 smartphones on a voice and data plan, 30 cell phones on a voice only plan, 27 tablets and/or GPS enabled devices on a data only plan, with 1 suspended (seasonal) phone plan. Current projections indicate an increase in these numbers as the Town relies more on mobile data collection and Fire and GPS enabled tablets for GIS (Geographic Information Systems).

3. BACKGROUND
The Town's current Telus contract has expired and is currently on a month to month basis. Telus has proposed a contract renewal that would offer the Town significant monthly savings based on the number of devices and average usage. The proposed plan allows the Town an online self serve portal access to change accounts and details, as well as add or remove buckets of pooled data and minutes to mitigate usage fluctuations.

The Town has been with said provider for over twelve years and Telus has always shown excellence in supporting any technical and/or billing issues, including data, voice and roaming disputes.

The Town originally was on a Vendor of Record (VOR) Government of Ontario (GOO) plan that offered the lowest monthly plans. However, with rising data and voice usage, a tailored Corporate plan allowed us to pool data and minutes, and has shown to be more cost effective.

4. DISCUSSION / ANALYSIS
As a municipality, the Town has access to the current Government of Ontario plan and using it as a base comparative factor in determining costs.

Taking into account the average voice and data usage along with the number of mobility accounts the Town currently has, the proposed Telus contract provides NOTL with significant savings month to month.


Option 1 - Current M2M (month to month) Monthly Charge # of Devices Total Monthly Charge
Vacation Disconnect$15.001 $            15.00
LTE Wireless Camera $15.001 $            15.00
Voice Only - Local$20.0030 $         600.00
Data only 1GB$30.0015 $         450.00
Data only 3GB$40.0011 $         440.00
Voice and Data 3GB$45.0075 $      3,375.00
US Shared Data Roam 4GB$250.002 $         500.00
Monthly  133 $      5,395.00

Option 1 is if we stayed the course on a no contract month to month plan.
** Stay the course and leave month to month
** Includes 4000 pooled minutes, 2000 Canada LD minutes, 295 Gigabytes Pooled local data
** 500MB US Data and 250 US Minutes shared included in the base plan with 20 US text and media messages per account (non shared)
** Hardware replacements are $150 off of three year contract price


Option 2 - Telus Proposed Corporate Monthly Charge # of Devices Total Monthly Charge
V&D 3GB Shared Plan (Subsidized)$40.0075$3,000.00
V&D 3GB Shared Plan (BYOD)$30.00 $0.00
Voice Only (Subsidized) $20.0030$600.00
Voice Only (BYOD)$14.50 $0.00
MHS Plans (BYOD)$5.0027$135.00
Suspended$25.001$25.00
Monthly 133$3,760.00

Option 2 is if we upgrade all hardware devices during the new contract.
** Town upgrades hardware devices moving accounts to subsidized plans
** Includes unlimited local minutes, 7300 Canada Long Distance minutes, 219 Gigabytes Pooled local data
** 5 Gigabytes Pooled US Data, 1460 Pooled US Minutes and unlimited US text messaging included in base plans
** Hardware replacements are $150 off of three year contract price


Option 3 - Telus Proposed Corporate Monthly Charge # of Devices Total Monthly Charge
V&D 3GB Shared Plan (Subsidized)$40.005$200.00
V&D 3GB Shared Plan (BYOD)$30.0070$2,100.00
Voice Only (Subsidized) $20.001$20.00
Voice Only (BYOD)$14.5029$420.50
MHS Plans (BYOD)$5.0027$135.00
Suspended$25.001$25.00
Monthly 133$2,900.50

Option 3 (Recommended Option) is if we do not upgrade all hardware devices during the contract.
** Accounts would stay on a subsidized rate plan except for those with a device balance
** Once hardware is replaced or upgraded, account will move from BYOD (Bring your own Device) to the subsidized rate plan
** Includes unlimited local minutes, 7300 Canada Long Distance minutes, 219 Gigabytes Pooled local data.
** 5 Gigabytes Pooled US Data, 1460 Pooled US Minutes and unlimited US text messaging included in base plans
** Hardware replacements are $150 off of three year contract price
** Same Discounts on hardware replacements at $150 off of three year contract price

Town has option to purchase hardware devices at full price to keep accounts on BYOD plans keeping monthly costs down


Option 4 - Rogers - Ontario VOR / GOO Monthly Charge # of Devices Total Monthly Charge
Voice & Data Rate Plan - up to 6GB non-shared$19.0575$1,428.75
Voice Rate Plan$4.7530$142.50
MHS Rate Plan$14.3027$386.10
Suspended$4.751$4.75
Base Subtotal with no overages $1,962.10
Overages (based on monthly Avg)
Unlimited CAN LD$3.13106 $         331.78
Data Overages (over 6GB)$30.7013 $         399.10
CAN SMS/MMS Charges Included
CAN-US Calling $0.1551 $              7.65
US Data Roaming Usage (MB)$0.303760 $      1,128.00
US LD & Voice Roaming $0.50101 $            50.50
US SMS/MMS $0.7585 $            63.75
Average Monthly Cost w/overages 133$3,942.88

** $5000 One time admin / porting charge (factoring this into the monthly charge over three years or 36 months adds an additional $139 per month, this would be an upfront charge and negates any monthly savings as listed below).
** No discount on hardware replacements
** No pooled local or roaming data or minutes

Option 4 is to go with a Vendor of Record / Government of Ontario plan. This option does not allow for the pooling of data and minutes and the above costs include additional fees for overages in data usage, long distance and US voice and data roaming charges based on historical averages and typical usage.

With NOTL being a border Town, roaming charges are usually seen on cell and mobile data devices, as devices will occasionally connect to communications towers in the United States.

Performing a sensitivity analysis and eliminating US data roaming ($1,128) on the above option, monthly costs are projected to be $2,814.88, which is $85.62 less than Option 3 (negated by $5,000 one-time porting charge). Option 3 already includes 5GB Pooled US Data, 1460 Pooled US Minutes and unlimited US text messaging already included in its base plan which provides for more flexibility.

5. STRATEGIC PLAN
Create a culture of Customer Service Excellence - Mobile devices have been increasingly relied upon to collect data in the field. Data is collected and uploaded to various databases in real time, as opposed to being collected manually in the field and input by staff when returning to administrative offices. Mobile devices have proven invaluable under new COVID realities, where remote work is encouraged when possible to prevent transmission of COVID-19.

6. OPTIONS
Option 1 - Stay on current month to month
Option 2 - Proposed Telus Contract
Option 3 - Proposed Telus Contract with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) plan as Recommended
Option 4 - Vendor of Record / Government of Ontario Plan

7. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Under Option 3 the Town will see significant savings of nearly $2,500 per month or $29,930 annually.

8. COMMUNICATIONS
Should Council endorse this decision, a contract will be available for the November 23rd Council Meeting for approval. No further communications are required as part of this report.

9. CONCLUSION
Staff are recommending that Council approve the renewal of the Town's Cellular Voice and Data Contract with Telus Mobility.



Respectfully submitted,
Fred Cervantes
Manager, Information Technology

Kyle Freeborn Sheldon Randall
Director, Corporate Services (A) Chief Administrative Officer (I)


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