OTTAWA – A little more than a month and a half following the adoption of Motion 208, which called for expanded digital infrastructure (wireless and wireline) in rural Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada issued a new report with a number of recommendations it would like to see put forth to help improve connectivity throughout the country.
The top recommendation is… more study: that the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology consider solutions to help close current gaps in wireless infrastructure in rural Canada over the next year. That includes the deployment of cellular infrastructure capacity during emergency situations and the examination of how to further encourage investment in rural wireless infrastructure.
The committee also recommended the government work with key stakeholders to study ways to improve wireless infrastructure availability and reliability to ensure optimal performance in all circumstances, particularly in emergencies. Various witnesses appearing before the committee discussed how wireless infrastructure plays a critical role during emergency situations, particularly those caused by a natural disaster.
“It’s not only about the mayors, councilors, municipal employees or first responders who are on the ground,” the report states. “Clearly, all of these individuals whose responsibility it is to respond to emergencies must be able to communicate. However, there are also neighbours helping each other out and communities that get together to support each other, as is the case at present. We see that these people are much less effective without cell services.”
To improve communication and coordination during a crisis situation, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) advised the federal government to support the creation of a Public Safety Broadband Network for Canada (PSBN), a secure network for high-speed wireless data communication that would be used by first responders and security personnel in their daily tasks and during emergencies. For this network to work effectively, however, the FCM reiterated that the federal government must develop adequate coverage and quality Internet services in rural areas.
Another recommendation contained in the report suggested the federal government support and encourage the development of innovative ways to provide digital wireless services such as the RightMesh Project in areas where deploying infrastructure is physically and/or economically challenging. While the Committee recognized the high costs associated with building and operating digital infrastructure in rural areas, it concluded internet and mobile wireless services are essential to the participation in modern society for all Canadians.
It recommended the federal government and the CRTC treat mobile services as essential to both the safety of the public and participation in the modern economy.
Throughout the hearings, witnesses highlighted the importance of spectrum access in rural areas. The RightMesh Project’s John Lyotier said the most useful regulatory change to improve rural connectivity would be to provide better access to spectrum bands.
Xplornet EVP and general counsel CJ Prudham noted in recent years, the federal government has prioritized spectrum frequency allocation for cellular needs while the demand for internet access has steadily increased, particularly in rural areas where most of the internet services offered are wireless.
To that effect, the Committee recommended the government put in place means to ensure rural areas are taken into consideration when allocating spectrum licenses. It also offered a number of additional solutions, including decreasing the size of spectrum license tiers, which would allow rural areas to be broken out from large urban centres while retaining licenses already allocated for fixed wireless internet in rural areas. The Committee also recommended the government work toward removing the distinction between fixed and mobile wireless access.
The report also touched on the always important matter of affordability, noting that while some rural areas have access to broadband internet, its high cost makes it cost prohibitive to use.
M-208 was first introduced in the fall of 2018 by MP Will Amos, who represents Pontiac, just outside Gatineau. The riding encompasses Chelsea, a community which is home to many senior civil servants who have reportedly struggled with wireless connectivity, It also runs north through numerous cottage country areas often populated by many Ottawa-Gatineau decision makers, and where wireless service in some of the regions can be spotty at best.
(Ed note: The fact that wireless coverage remains so problematic in an area populated by so many decision-makers is baffling to us. How have the companies not fixed this already?)
The report also featured something of a dissenting opinion from the NDP MPs on the committee. Its section says that in the Northwest Territories, the Yukon and Nunavut, “no households have access to high speed broadband (50/10 Mbs with unlimited data) and 72% of highways and major transport roads do not have access to LTE wireless services.”
Also, “in Canada 63% of rural households do not have access to high speed broadband (50/10 Mbs with unlimited data) and 14% of highways and major transport roads do not have access to LTE wireless services.”
The NDP added its own recommendations, which say, for example, the Minister must reverse CRTC Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2018-377 and mandate that minimum speeds for all Canadians in rural and remote area match those in urban areas which are 50 Mbps to download and 10 Mbps to upload. (Ed note: For what it’s worth, that policy, despite many claims, did not step back from the stated CRTC goal of 50/10 everywhere, just that the Commission would consider rural broadband funding applicants who needed a starting step of 25/5 in order to get there.)
The NDP also want the government to use spectrum auction funds to pay for broadband infrastructure in rural and remote communities, to disclose how all funds raised from spectrum auctions so far have been used, and if it plans to implement anything in this report or from Motion 208 at all.
