Tory cabinet denies Rogers’ petition, clears Bell for rural wireless rollout

The Conservative cabinet has decided not to intervene in a CRTC decision issued last year that cleared the way for Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. to use regulated deferral account funds to roll out mobile wireless broadband services in rural areas. Rogers Communications Inc. opposed the CRTC decision and filed a petition to cabinet asking the government to amend the decision and direct the commission to establish a competitive bidding process for the rollout of rural Internet services. In telecom decision 2010-805, issued last year, the CRTC said BCE subsidiaries Bell Canada and Bell Aliant could use $306.3 million from their deferral account funds to roll out HSPA+ mobile broadband services to 112 rural communities in Ontario and Quebec. The deferral account funds are regulated telecom funds—originating from surcharges paid on telco services in urban areas between 2002 and 2006—that are being used to support rural and remote broadband expansion. In a petition to cabinet filed Jan. 26, 2011, Rogers asked the government to amend the CRTC decision so that telecom carriers would bid for the minimum levels of deferral account funds necessary to serve 97 of the 112 communities with equivalent or better broadband services at the same or lower price points as Bell's plan. In its petition, Rogers had guaranteed that it could provide the same level of service at a lower price. “There are other carriers that are capable of providing the same broadband service levels to the communities in question at considerably lower subsidy levels than Bell proposed and the CRTC has approved,” Rogers argued in its petition. “For its part, Rogers hereby commits to the Governor in Council that it can provide an identical service to Bell to the same communities using the same HSPA wireless technology for at least $50 million less than Bell.” On Wednesday, Pascale Boulay, a spokeswoman for Industry Minister Christian Paradis, told The Wire Report that the Tory government will not review or vary the CRTC decision according to Rogers' request. “The government believes that Internet access is important for the economic and social well being of Canadians,” Boulay said by email. The Tory cabinet had until a deadline of Oct. 29, 2011—one year after the commission issued telecom decision 2010-805—to respond to the petition with a review or vary order. But the cabinet decided to let the deadline pass and the CRTC decision stand. “By not intervening in the CRTC’s decisions, we are allowing the extension of broadband Internet to ... rural communities without further delay,” Boulay wrote. “The issues raised in the appeals have been reviewed by the CRTC, the government and the courts many times. In each case, the government’s position has been the same; we want these communities connected so that they can participate fully in the digital economy.” The cabinet decision represents something of a denouement in the story about Bell's plan to use the funds for mobile wireless services and its regulatory fight with competitor Rogers. Bell had attempted to quash Rogers' petition to cabinet by requesting a judicial review at the Federal Court, arguing that cabinet did not have the jurisdiction to officially publish and hear it. The Federal Court dismissed that claim in September, ruling that the petition was within the cabinet's jurisdiction. Bell's plan has also gone through a number of twists. Originally, in a decision issued in August 2010, the commission denied the company's plan to use deferral account funds for HSPA+ wireless because it did not meet the CRTC's criteria for spending the money on rural broadband. The commission had required that companies use the funds for wireline technologies comparable to what is offered in urban areas. Bell then requested that the CRTC review the decision, arguing that it wasn't consistent with the principle of technological neutrality. The CRTC conceded this point in decision 2010-805 and cleared Bell for the deployment of mobile wireless services. sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

Tory cabinet denies Rogers’ petition, clears Bell for rural wireless rollout

News | 11/02/2011 10:04 pm EDT

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