Liberal Party supports speed matching; broadband access to be in campaign platform: Garneau

The Liberal Party supports the issue of speed matching for wholesale broadband and will make Internet access a major piece of its campaign platform in the next election, the party's industry critic, Marc Garneau, said in an interview. Speed matching regulation would require that the incumbent telecom carriers—Bell Canada, Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc.—allow wholesale broadband purchasers to offer Internet speeds matching those of the incumbents’ retail speeds. Small ISPs and public interest advocates say the issue is critical to ensuring fast and affordable broadband Internet—but the incumbents disagree. On Dec. 10 2009, the federal Cabinet ordered the CRTC to revisit a 2008 decision that required the incumbents to offer speed matching to smaller retail ISPs. A hearing to revisit the matter is scheduled for May 31, 2010. “At what point do you put restrictions on them , in such a way that they are not an attractive alternative from a competition point of view?” Garneau said. When asked whether broadband access and the digital economy will be a major campaign issue for the party in the next election, Garneau said, "Yes, it will be." He added that party will be discussing digital issues in more detail at the Canada at 150 conference in Montreal, March 26 to 28. Earlier this month, at a stop in Guelph, Ont., Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff pledged to expand broadband access in Canadian rural communities. A newly released study by the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society should serve as a wake-up call for the government to help Canada catch up to other developed nations in terms of access to broadband Internet, Garneau said. The report, titled “Next Generation Connectivity: A review of broadband Internet transitions and policy from around the world,” says Canada faces a gap of broadband coverage between rural and urban areas. The report concludes that 3G wireless penetration in the country has been “substantially weaker than fixed line penetration.” “I think it’s a very clear indication to us that we need to do some things in order to improve our performance,” Garneau said. Garneau said that there is a role for direct government investment in broadband infrastructure in small rural areas of the country where ISPs have less economic incentive to offer services. Lynn Meahan, a spokeswoman for Industry Minister Tony Clement, said by email that the government recognizes the importance of the digital economy and has introduced measures to boost it, including its $225 million Broadband Canada program. Meahan also referred to the government’s anti-spam legislative initiative, last year’s national copyright reform consultations, and a wireless spectrum auction in 2008 “which is leading to new wireless entrants across Canada.” Michael Hennessy, senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs at Telus, added that the federal government is not in a position to provide direct broadband investment with its current $50 billion deficit. “If you cannot directly provide funding to extend service, you have to trust the market,” he told The Wire Report. Hennessy has been an outspoken critic of the Berkman Center report and said that Canada is a world leader in access to 3G wireless networks. He said Canada is the only country in the world with three advanced HSPA+ 3G networks that offer download speeds of up to 21Mbps. “The networks we now have are clearly the largest and, based on all the evidence, among the fastest in the world,” he said. Hennessy added that the Harvard report’s author, Yochai Benkler, has been an outspoken proponent of open networks and unbundling—in which telecommunications incumbents provide resellers access to their networks at wholesale rates. Unbundling is closely related to speed matching. Hennessy said the Berkman Center report argues that unbundling and speed matching are the best ways to allow the kind of competition that would improve broadband Internet service. But he added: “You’re not going to increase competition if going to spend a whole bunch more risk capital.” Garneau commended companies like Telus and Bell for the investments they’ve made in their networks, but said the government needs to encourage more competition through initiatives like unbundling and speed matching. “I really hope to hear something in the Throne Speech about the digital economy, about the need for Canada to be the world leader in terms of broadband access," Garneau said. Garneau said the government has sent mixed signals to the CRTC by requesting that it revisit the speed matching decision and by reversing the CRTC’s decision to deny Globalive Communications Corp. access to the Canadian wireless market. “If you’re in the CRTC, and you’re trying to interpret your mandate, you must be feeling schizophrenic these days because you’re not sure when the government is going to reverse whatever you’ve decided,” said Garneau. But Meahan said the government has “laid the foundation for a strong digital economy,” noting its initiative to produce a national digital strategy. “As we move forward on developing a national digital economy strategy, we will build on this foundation while seeking the input and ideas of industry stakeholders,” she said. jmigneault@thewirereport.ca

Liberal Party supports speed matching; broadband access to be in campaign platform: Garneau

News | February 25, 2010

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