A public interest group and a northern Indigenous broadband provider say Canada’s telecommunications regulator’s efforts to improve internet services in the North are a step in the right direction.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said in announcement last week it would be taking steps to boost internet reliability and affordability for northerners.
That entails requiring northern telecommunications giant Northwestel to offer customers a credit for outages of 24 hours or more, improving competitors’ access to Northwestel’s transport network (a network that provides bandwidth and connectivity) to sell services to customers and developing a subsidy for Northerners to offset the high price of internet.
“This is the right place to start, and it’s long overdue,” said Geoff White, executive director and general counsel for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, which advocates for consumers and public interest issues.
“This is very positive. We’d like to see this succeed.”
The announcement follows a lengthy public consultation process spearheaded by the CRTC which culminated with a public hearing in Whitehorse in 2023.
The CRTC found internet prices are significantly higher in the North compared to the rest of the country and people have few choice when it comes to internet service providers.
It also found service quality is low with significant outages.
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White said consumers in the North are often left footing the bill for an essential service that isn’t always reliable due to outages.
The CRTC hopes crediting Northwestel customers when there’s outages will help provide a financial incentive for the company to limit their frequency and duration.
“Outages are a huge problem. You need reliable service. You shouldn’t have to pay for service that you’re not receiving unless it’s within your control,” White said.
As for the opening of Northwestel’s transport network, White said the company would need to open its access network to fully ensure competition in the North, something the commission ultimately decided against.
“To set rates at a level to make competitors able to offer the service at a competitive rate would be too high, or if they were too low, that would impair Northwestel’s ability to invest. There’s a balancing act that the Commission undertook there,” White said.
Lyle Fabian, who is Dene and the founder and CEO of Yellowknife-based broadband provider KatloTech Communications Ltd., nonetheless sees the network opening as good thing.
He said opening Northwestel’s transport network is a positive step for smaller northern service providers like himself who are eager to compete.
Fabian said KatloTech wants to buy wholesale broadband from Alberta for its 315-kilometre optic fiber project and resell it back to Northern communities, including Northwestel.
He said that could also improve redundancy.
“It pushes Northwestel to look at alternatives in regards to having less outages and to depend on a small provider like myself, who, in turn, would also strengthen Northwestel,” he said. “This is a great step forward, but leaves much work to be done in ensuring that connectivity in the far north is affordable, competitive and community driven.”
Northwestel said in a statement to APTN News it will implement the changes.
“We look forward to participating in the CRTC’s public consultation for the implementation of a retail internet service subsidy in the Far North and share the commission’s view that there are unique and challenging circumstances in serving remote, northern communities,” a spokesperson said.
The CRTC is accepting comments from the public which it will use to determine its decision on the subsidy until Feb. 18.
