Create a broadband czar to coordinate funding: PIAC

The disparate broadband funding programs administered across different federal government departments should instead all be coordinated by a single governmental body, with sole authority for administering the billions of dollars aimed at connecting the country to high speed internet, the House of Commons industry committee heard Tuesday. "Canada continues to pump billions of dollars into building broadband infrastructure. Everyone in this space -- from the smallest cooperatives to the largest telcos, consumer groups, MPs -- all complain about the fragmented government of Canada operation of these funds. Bring them all under one body. Call it a broadband czar," Public Interest Action Centre general counsel John Lawford told the committee at a hearing Tuesday. The meeting was part of the committee's continued hearings on the affordability and accessibility of telecommunications services. The idea seemed to gain traction with at least one member, NDP industry, science and economic development critic Brian Masse. "This is probably about my hundredth meeting on this subject matter," Masse told the committee. "I really like the idea of a czar at this particular point in time to help coordinate these things. It could be done. Not only for the buildout and the spectrum, and then also for the hard stuff that needs to be done on the ground, to that of the consumer aspect, to re-coordinate and pivot ourselves." There are several funds aimed at increasing rural connectivity in the country, from the recently launched long awaited $1.75 billion Universal Broadband Fund, to a $600 million agreement for low earth orbit satellites (LEOS) with Telesat Holdings Inc., to a $2 billion Canada Infrastructure Bank fund for larger projects. These recently announced projects follow on from the already existing -- and oft-criticized -- Connect-to-Innovate program, as well as a $750 million CRTC rural broadband fund, which began announcing recipients this past summer. There are also separate funding programs in a number of provinces. Liberal MP Majid Jowhari asked Lawford what roof the various broadband funds should be housed under. "It's tempting to want to leave it with the CRTC, because they are the natural regulator in this area. I don't believe they have the statutory authority at the moment, perhaps this committee could consider that," Lawford said, adding that the position of a czar could be temporary to "get the whole house in order." "Then we should perhaps think about legislation to formally give it to the CRTC," Lawford told the committee. CRTC chair Ian Scott appeared before the same committee last month, where he told MPs that he felt the CRTC was sufficiently resourced, in response to a question from Masse. Execulink Telecom CEO and Canadian Communication Systems Alliance board member Ian Stevens also reiterated to the committee some of what he told the 2020 online edition of the Canada’s Rural and Remote Broadband Conference last month. "Canada needs a coordinated broadband strategy. Currently, we have a myriad of municipal, provincial, and federal funding programs. They all have similar goals and strong support, but those programs are not aligned on their timing, their objectives, their focus, or commitment to execution," Stevens told the committee Tuesday. "As a result, they compete for potential applicants' limited time and resources," Stevens said, adding that "we fear that in terms of solving rural broadband problem, those various programs will actually end up accomplishing less than the sum of their parts." — With reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Create a broadband czar to coordinate funding: PIAC

News | December 8, 2020

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Create a broadband czar to coordinate funding: PIAC

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