ISED points to existing programs in response to rural broadband report

The government has responded to a House industry committee report that, among other recommendations, said the government should tackle the problem of rural broadband access in Canada and called for intentionally favouring small and non-traditional providers. The federal government said it agrees with the report in that small players have an “important role” in upgrading rural broadband technology in Canada, according to a response from Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains and Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi this week. However, that response didn’t outline any plans to increase their role and ensure their participation, though it did point to efforts it’s undertaken to reduce the “administrative burden” of its Connect to Innovate program, something that small providers have pointed to as an issue. Breaking down the 12 recommendations raised by the industry committee’s April report into larger categories, the response generally pointed to many programs that were underway, completed or previously planned to occur to back up its assertion that the government is already tackling the issues facing deployment of rural broadband. The letter said the ongoing funding programs address the lack of business case when building internet infrastructure in rural areas. Those include the $500 million Connect to Innovate program and the upcoming $750 million CRTC broadband fund. As well, the letter reiterated the federal government’s $100 million for satellite infrastructure introduced in the 2018 budget. Speaking to concerns that the network speed-focused 2016 basic services decision by the CRTC would ignore quality indicators, the response pointed to orders given to CRTC’s interconnection steering committee at the time to determine which other metrics, like latency and packet loss, should be used to measure the success of rural broadband efforts. The response also said that efforts to make licensing spectrum more accessible were in effect with set asides in future spectrum auctions, shared spectrum allocations, and spectrum caps to encourage participation by small players. Other recommendations put forward by the committee were to increase digital literacy and streamline the construction of broadband hardware on local infrastructure assets. The federal government indicated it believes that its current efforts like the Digital Literacy Exchange and Computers for Schools programs fit in the definition of what the committee was looking for. The government said that the that the issue of infrastructure crosses jurisdiction, outlining that broadband projects are eligible for funding under federal infrastructure programs and said it is committed to continue working with local municipal and provincial governments.

ISED points to existing programs in response to rural broadband report

Brief | June 21, 2018

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ISED points to existing programs in response to rural broadband report

Brief | June 21, 2018

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