By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The federal government has heard rural broadband stakeholders that download speeds of 50 Mbps may already be insufficient and that federal programs are falling short of their needs, according to notes Cartt.ca obtained from a roundtable held in late January.
The roundtable was hosted on January 29 by Minister of Rural Economic Development Maryam Monsef and touched on major areas of concern for connectivity in rural regions. The participants were not named in the notes.
“The 50/10 standard will soon be eclipsed by the need for additional speed and capacity, if it hasn’t been already,” the meeting notes said, citing stakeholders. “50/10 isn’t always sufficient to support multiple activities during lockdown.”
The 50/10 standard was established in December 2016 by the CRTC as a universal target for all Canadians; it is the minimum target for the federal government by 2030 for all. The federal government has assured critics of the $2.75-billion Universal Broadband Program that it prefers projects with technologies that can scale to higher speeds over time.
The government has claimed the program also includes additional improvements over the older $585-million Connect to Innovate program by including a “pathfinder” service which aids smaller applicants to the new program with project development, partnerships, sources of funding and navigating the application process.
However, while stakeholders in the roundtable said the pathfinder service is “helpful,” it “needs to go further.” There is no elaboration on what that means in the notes. Participants also noted that there is a “gap between advertised or posted speeds and what people experience.” While that is also something that contains no elaboration, it is of course due to the fact posted speeds are generally maximum theoretical speeds – not actual.
Cartt.ca sought out clarification on these points, but to do that, it required identifying the participants. When asked to reveal the meeting participants, but ISED alluded to some form of confidentiality – as are generally the case with a Chatham House Rule arrangement – and all efforts by Cartt.ca to seek out the participants did not bear fruit.
Other concerns fielded by the minister were investment models that are “insufficient to reach rural Canada and close the connectivity gap.
“Models such as the Canada Infrastructure Bank don’t work for rural communities as the minimum investment is set too high – and other programs may also be missing the mark,” it said, adding the last mile “is still an issue.”
The federal government recently allocated some $2 billion to the Infrastructure Bank, which hands out repayable low-interest loans for large infrastructure projects.
“Getting service is only the beginning,” the notes say. “Affordability is key, and both access and affordability are constrained in rural areas.” The UBF evaluates and treats favourable projects that offer lower retail pricing to rural residents.
Rural stakeholders also spoke about how “overage fees can be significant and rural customers have fewer choices of internet service providers.”
Members of the legislative assembly of the Northwest Territories, for example, have complained to their own government that the region relies too much on the dominant provider there, Bell-owned Northwestel. Northwestel co-owns the massive cornerstone of the region’s broadband ambitions, the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link.
The region has also asked the CRTC to put open access conditions on projects built with its $750-million fund — which is derived from levies on the telecoms — to get more service providers serving the region.
The roundtable notes also outline the overall urgency of adequate internet in the regions, which are trying to retain youth in those rural communities.
The roundtable discussed other large issues, including housing and tourism.
“Hearing from rural Canadians is an important step in achieving these goals,” an ISED spokesperson told Cartt.ca. “The Government of Canada thanks all participants for their feedback and for their insights into the questions that were presented for discussion at the round table. Discussion points related to broadband covered topics including scalability, government funding models and their suitability for rural communities/smaller applicants, internet affordability, and the need to invest in digital skills.”
