CNOC wants more info on incumbent disaggregated configurations

The Competitive Network Operators of Canada industry group has told the CRTC that it needs more information about how incumbents have structured their disaggregated network architecture in order to properly participate in regulator’s ongoing consultation on how to reconfigure the disaggregated regime. 

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Private sector interest in Infrastructure Bank broadband funds ‘limited,’ PCO told

The federal government was told telecom companies weren’t enthusiastic about participating in the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s rural broadband program a year before it doubled its $1-billion investment in the initiative.

Documents obtained by The Wire Report through Access to Information show that the Privy Council Office flagged the lack of interest by the private sector in a fall 2019 document.

The document said “the greater challenge may be take-up of the loans; private sector interest in [CIB] loans for broadband announced in Budget 2019 has thus far been limited.”

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the government would double the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s funding for broadband projects to $2 billion, to be used towards connecting 750,000 homes and small businesses. The bank — whose mandate is to invest in infrastructure projects that generate revenue, are in the public interest and attract private capital — is aiming to have the projects announced and investments made by the end of the year. 

The PCO document, issued shortly following the 2019 federal election, said the Liberal Party’s election platform had indicated a Liberal government would double that funding. It noted the increase in funds wouldn’t require any “additional implementation measures,” beyond expanding the bank’s ongoing efforts.

An Infrastructure Bank spokesperson didn’t answer when asked whether the IBC took any steps to change how the program works to increase the “limited” interest from the private sector.

“There is great interest in the CIB’s role in the broadband sector and we intend to build on this momentum,” Félix Corriveau said in an email. He said the bank intends to provide low-cost, flexible financing to make projects in rural areas more commercially viable. 

“The CIB will execute its broadband plan in two primary ways. First, it will partner with other federal and provincial programs designed to encourage greater broadband connectivity. Secondly, the CIB will continue its direct engagement with Internet Service Providers across the country on projects that will not rely on those additional government programs, but can still be viable with CIB participation and support,” Corriveau said.

The 2019 PCO note also suggested alternative ways to help speed up the process of improving rural broadband connectivity — something the government has been promising to do since early on in the COVID-19 pandemic. Rural Economic Development Minister Maryam Monsef first promised to accelerate the government’s response in late April in an interview with The Wire Report. She then told an industry conference in early June the $1.7 billion Universal Broadband Fund — which is separate from the Infrastructure Bank’s program and provides non-repayable funding —  would open for applications in the “coming days.” The UBF still has not launched.

“To hasten progress on achieving Universal Broadband Access, the Government would need to look into further non-repayable funding options to address market failures,” the PCO note read.

It suggested upholding the CRTC’s August 2019 decision lowering wholesale rates. In August 2020, the government chose not to overturn that decision, but issued a statement expressing concern that the rates were too low and could harm investment in networks.

The PCO document also suggested addressing “consumer knowledge gaps, through awareness campaigns, to help Canadians take advantage of the lowest-priced telecommunications options available.” 

It concluded that although the “commitment continues on the Liberal Government’s current direction and funding committed in Budget 2019, it is a multi-year effort and further investments may be required to achieve universal broadband access by 2030, especially in rural and remote areas.”

— Reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

Tests show public alerts system differs markedly across devices

Testing of the National Public Alerting System (NPAS) across mobile devices produced by five major manufacturers showed devices play alerts at variable volumes, while putting a phone in “do not disturb” mode did not always prevent an audible alert from sounding, the CRTC said in a report released Thursday.

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Liberals’ wireless price drop unlikely to achieve promised savings: gov’t docs

The Liberals’ election commitment to drop wireless prices 25 per cent will happen organically due to changes in the market, and it probably won’t save Canadians the average of $1,000 a year that the party platform promised, Innovation Canada told the Privy Council Office.

That’s because while the Liberal promise targets plans with a specific, mid-range data allowance, Canadians want increasingly larger plans, a PCO analyst outlined in an email obtained through Access to Information.

Analyst Margarete Ling wrote the email following conversations with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, days after the 2019 federal election in which the Liberals campaigned on the price drop promise.

“ISED estimates the commitment of a 25 percent price decline per gigabyte (GB), over the course of the mandate, will occur organically without intervention beyond measures the government is already taking and therefore, continuing with status quo measures is expected to achieve the desired result,” Ling said in the email.

The reasoning behind ISED’s conclusion is that the Liberal promise was based on a 5 GB plan. Prices are falling globally, which means a customer can get a 5 GB plan for the price of a 2 GB plan a few years ago, the email outlined.

“In this sense, prices are declining organically. However, at the same time, consumption continually increases. Canadians no longer want the lower GB plans. Therefore, it is unlikely that price/GB reductions will result in the promised $1,000 a year savings,” the email said.

“As well, Canadians may not be in a position to realize savings within the lifecycle of their current contracts. Prices might drop, but they are locked in.”

The election platform promised a re-elected Liberal government would “move forward with cutting the cost of these services by 25 per cent in the next two years by using the government’s regulatory powers, saving an average middle class family of four nearly $1,000 per year.”

The government chose in March to focus the commitment on 2 GB to 6 GB post-paid plans from Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Corp. and BCE Inc. It launched a tracker to monitor prices in July. 

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said in a phone interview in March that the government chose to target “mid-range” plans because they hadn’t seen a significant pricing decline, as had been the case for low-end and high-end plans. The government’s annual pricing report showed that prices for plans with 10 GB of data dropped by 31 per cent in the of summer 2019, for instance.

The PCO email also noted that summer’s price drop as another factor in why prices are expected to drop organically, in addition to set-asides in spectrum auctions for smaller players.

The details in the email were also included in an attached document analyzing the election promises. The document noted that the CRTC is in the process of deciding whether to mandate access by mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to incumbent networks. The Liberals also promised to “encourage competition by expanding the entry” of Canadian MVNOs in the wireless market.

The PCO document noted that the government does not have the power to regulate rates directly, or to force the CRTC to facilitate MVNOs, though the federal government can vary a decision once it has been issued. “In the event the government is dissatisfied with the model developed, the government could alter the decision under existing authorities in the Telecommunications Act,” it said.

The partially-redacted document also looked at potential responses to MVNOs, saying that reaction among the provinces and territories might be mixed, with some “supportive of the impact on prices, while others may express concern for reduced investment.”

It added that wireless carriers “will strongly oppose measures to mandate MVNO access, while consumer advocacy groups would support such actions.”

The analysis in the following paragraph is mostly redacted, though it does state that “the general public would be in favour.”

 — Reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

OPC launches investigations into cyber attacks on GCKey and CRA

The federal privacy watchdog has launched a pair of investigations into a series of cyberattacks on the Canada Revenue Agency and the GCKey credential used by federal agencies.

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Federal Court judge appointed to head Copyright Board 

The federal government has appointed Federal Court judge Luc Martineau as the chair of the Copyright Board of Canada for a five-year term. 

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CRTC hears differing pitches to fix lagging disaggregated regime

In order to make its disaggregated wholesale regime work, the CRTC should reintroduce a level of aggregation to cut down on the amount wholesale-based providers would have to spend to connect, the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC) told the CRTC. 

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CRTC gives Bell AI call blocking trial interim extension

The CRTC is allowing the trial of BCE Inc.’s artificial intelligence-based spam and fraudulent call blocking system to continue until it decides on a request by Bell to make the project permanent.

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Commish ‘frustrated for Canadian citizens’ as privacy laws lag

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened privacy concerns around activities like videoconferencing, ehealth and elearning that have become more prevalent in our lives, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said in its annual report Thursday. 

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Encourage 5G network investment to fight climate change: CWTA

Telecom industry group Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) released a report Wednesday outlining how deployment of 5G will help Canada meet its climate goals, linking the issue with the government’s telecom policy.

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