CRTC can’t fix broadband access alone, experts say

Continued from FP1

Retail Internet revenue — which jumped to $9.2 billion last year — is currently excluded from these calculations.

When the CRTC last reviewed the basic service objective in 2011, it declined to regulate broadband or establish a funding mechanism to fuel its rollout given that market forces provided “virtually all” Canadians access to low-speed Internet. It did, however, set 2015 target download and upload speeds of five megabits per second (MBps) and 1 MBps. This was available to 99.5 per cent of households by 2015, according to the CRTC.

But given the increasing reliance on Internet for education, work and social connection, most Canadians would scoff at 5 MBps speeds, with average download speed hitting 29 MBps last year. In an unusual twist at an April public hearing on the matter, Blais called broadband vital, defining it as essential to life and success.

“So unless you disagree with this conclusion, let us not spend more hearing time on this self-evident truth,” he said, adding the hearing was the “last best chance to get it right” and create a “coherent national broadband strategy.”

“Every month that goes by without a more robust Canadian broadband strategy means Canada is competitively disadvantaged as other countries move ahead and advance on their digital productivity, innovation, and competitiveness,” Blais said.

It’s not clear what such a strategy might look like, although the CRTC asked public hearing participants to weigh in. Companies including Bell Canada and Rogers submitted documents supporting the principle that Canadians should have access to broadband services.

The CRTC decision could set targets for Internet speed, pricing, availability and funding, although Blais admitted it can’t fund or implement a broadband strategy without federal and industry help.

“This is too big of a job for just the CRTC,” said Michael Geist, Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa.

While the CRTC can use its regulatory power to shift funds to broadband, Geist said the private sector and the federal government need to step in to bridge the digital divides that keep lowincome and rural residents disconnected.

He lauded Telus and Rogers for launching programs that offer $10 per month Internet packages to lowincome residents, but called the federal government’s actions on the file “underwhelming.”

“The CRTC will try to push the envelope in terms of what (affordable access) means … at the end of the day, there’s still a significant role for the government.”

Yet it’s not clear whether the federal government will provide the type of cash needed if the CRTC’s plans are as ambitious as hinted. Last week, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains re-announced a $500 million fund to connect 300 rural and remote communities to broadband by 2021.

Though the investment comes on top of about half a billion dollars dedicated by the Conservatives from 2009 to 2014, it’s not enough to connect all Canadians, especially those living in Northern communities that require satellite connections. Consumer advocacy group OpenMedia, which estimates $2.2 billion is needed to connect all residents, called for a comprehensive strategy instead of a “piecemeal approach.”

Ryerson communications professor Catherine Middleton agrees a plan is needed, but said a national broadband plan should be part of a wider digital strategy. Such a strategy should ensure digital literacy and broadband access with the wider goal of advancing the digital economy, she said in an email.

Meantime, industry watchers expect the CRTC to tackle both geographical and income-related availability in the basic service decision.