CRTC also announced more money allocation from third call
The CRTC has formally denied an application by Bell that requested the regulator change the way it collected money for the $750-million Broadband Fund.
Bell requested last December that the regulator stop collecting money from the internet service providers until it has disbursed the money it has collected and to return the money it hasn’t given out. Part of the reasoning is that there have been many more funding programs available since the Broadband Fund was launched and that the unused money held by the CRTC and not distributed could be used by service providers to do things like build networks.
The application received broad support from other service providers.
But the CRTC on Wednesday denied the application, even though it had already noted that at least some of Bell’s concerns would be addressed as part of the larger proceeding on broadening the fund’s focus to more projects. It noted in the launch of the fund review in March 2023, for example, that it would review the appropriate amount to be collected annually going forward.
The commission noted Wednesday that its third round of applications for money from the fund yielded more requests for cash than the amount it collected. It added that the regulator must “maintain sufficient funds to approve additional funding requests that are needed to complete projects that have already commenced,” adding that the $150 million it collected from service providers this year was appropriate, despite Bell’s claims to the contrary.
“This demonstrates a large ongoing need for funding support to provide Canadians living in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities with access to high-speed Internet and cell phone service,” the commission’s decision read. “The need for funding will continue to increase as the Commission approves new projects, responds to the increasing costs of existing projects, and conducts a broad review of the Broadband Fund.
“In the Commission’s view, Bell Canada has not raised substantial doubt as to the correctness of that decision.”
Both the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and far north service provider SSi Canada opposed Bell’s application. They said there are uses for the funds. SSi, in particular, said satellite-dependent communities need the CRTC to release Broadband Fund money pronto to address connectivity gaps, especially during the past wildfire season that caused significant damage to networks.
That said, the CRTC also announced on the same day that it selected two new projects for Broadband Fund money, amounting to nearly $40 million. The first project will be expected to bring high-speed internet service to all communities in Nunavut for the first time and the second project will provide funding for Keewaytinook Okimakanak to maintain satellite internet connectivity in two First Nation communities in Northern Ontario.
SSi was approved for $26.8 million to increase satellite transport capacity in all 25 communities in Nunavut, brining 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload to roughly 11,400 households. And Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KNet) in northern Ontario was allocated $8.2 million to increase satellite transport capacity in two indigenous communities in the region, encompassing about 180 households.
The CRTC is also providing more funding to Northwestel’s Yukon fibre project, which was selected in August 2020 and included 24 communities in Yukon. That project will expand fibre services into Atlin in northern British Columbia, after the telecom took over the incumbency from Telus. That raises the target to 25 communities covering about 5,040 households for that project at a cost of $53.1 million.
