Adam Scott, Vice-Chairperson, Telecommunications
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
Check against delivery
Thank you for the invitation to speak today and for that warm welcome. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. I thank them and pay respect to their Elders.
I received the invitation to speak at this event the exact same day that I received my Long Service Award for 25 years in the public service. And I thought, "well this is too perfect, I'll call my speech 'Looking back on a quarter century of telecommunications policy.'" And I'll weave together anecdotes from my 25-year career with key moments in telecommunications policy to write a nice little speech that perfectly aligns with the 25-year history of this conference. Then somebody told me it was, in fact, the 24th edition of the Telecom Summit.
Things don't always line up quite as perfectly as you had hoped. Nonetheless, I would still like to spend some time looking back on -not quite - a quarter century of telecom policy.
I have spent my career thinking about Canadian telecommunications and developing public policies to support a competitive and innovative telecommunications industry. I was at the very first Telecom Summit as a junior analyst for what was then Industry Canada - which became Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. I was so junior, that I was probably the only person in the room without a Blackberry. Instead, I brought a pocket full of quarters so I could stay in touch with the head office in Ottawa via pay phone, if you can believe that.
I hearken back to those early days of this conference and my time in government not to make myself feel old - though, believe me, I feel plenty old - but to make the point that the health of Canada's telecommunications industry and the services it offers Canadians have been top of mind for the Canadian government for a very long time.
Throughout that time, while the specific circumstances, approaches and tools have varied, the core areas of focus have remained fundamentally the same. In fact, I've been explaining telecom policy by drawing the same triangle diagram for 25 years with quality, coverage, and price at the corners.
Its apt because a triangle is a remarkably stable structure, and one where each of the sides supports, and is supported by, the two others. So I will touch on each corner in turn, describing the work we are doing on each at the CRTC, and show how we are promoting competition and consumer empowerment as foundational blocks that hold up our policy triangle.
Ensuring quality services for Canadians
Let's start with quality. The CRTC is part of the larger federal government effort to ensure Canadians have high-quality and reliable telecommunications networks. And quality is perhaps where our job has historically been least difficult, as world-class networks have been a hallmark of Canadian telecommunications.
In terms of the Internet today, this means ongoing investment in fibre, DOCSIS upgrades, next-generation fixed wireless, and investment in LEO satellites. And in terms of cellphones, this means the rollout of modern networks which already cover most of Canada's urban areas and are quickly becoming available in more and more rural and remote areas as well.
We are seeing that companies are continuing to make network investments to provide the telecommunications services that Canadians need.
Hand-in-hand with ensuring that our regulatory regime supports ongoing investment in modern networks, we are also working to ensure our networks are reliable. As the world we live in gets more unpredictable and the impact of service outages on a digital economy more severe, this is more important than ever.
So we are developing a robust strategy and regulatory framework to help reduce the occurrence of service outages and improve network resiliency and the reliability of services. Because Canadians need to be safe in the knowledge that in an emergency, they will be able to reach out for help.
To that end, we have already issued an interim decision on outage notification requirements for providers. We also have upcoming consultations aimed at reducing outages, mitigating their impact, and ensuring consumers are treated fairly when they do occur.
We are committed to ensuring all Canadians have access to reliable Internet and cellphone services.
Providing coverage for rural, remote and Indigenous communities
This leads into the second corner of our triangle: coverage. And specifically, the challenge of getting coverage in areas where market forces alone may not meet the need.
Meeting this challenge when it comes to Internet coverage has been the focus of the CRTC's Broadband Fund. The Broadband Fund team works with partners across the industry, governments and municipalities to connect communities that have previously lacked adequate or sufficient access.
And every day we are getting closer to ensuring all Canadians have it. In 2017, 84% of Canadians had access to Internet services at speeds that meet our 50/10 universal service objective, and the gap between urban and rural parts of our country was vast: just 37% of rural, remote and Indigenous households had access to Internet at target speeds versus 97% of urban homes.
Eight years later, more than 95% of Canada, 78% of rural households, and around 60% of homes in the Territories and on Reserves have access to 50/10 Internet. And through an array of investments, innovations, and a whole-of-government effort, we are on track to meet our goal of 100% of the country by 2030. But in many ways, the job gets harder the closer we get to our target. There is little, if any, low-hanging fruit remaining. CRTC staff are likely getting sick of hearing me say that the last steps to the finish line are often the hardest.
As hard as they might be, we are committed to getting there. The Broadband Fund has had three calls for applications at this point, and directed funding to help connect more than 270 communities. We are continuing to deliver funding from our third call.
In the past year alone, we have committed support across seven provinces and territories, which will improve telecommunications services along approximately 100 kilometres of major roads and help build over 2,700 kilometres of transport fibre.
These investments will make a profound impact in those communities by improving access to health care services and education, and creating new opportunities for local businesses. And while we are pleased with this progress, we know we can do better. So we launched a review of the Broadband Fund to find ways we can improve the allocation of funding.
To date, we have announced a number of changes, including making it faster and easier to submit a funding application, cutting down on the time it takes for us to review applications, implementing new ways to help Indigenous applicants, and improving our mapping so we can better identify roads and communities that need more help.
We are continuing to review other aspects of the Fund so it can help us close the coverage gaps that remain across the country.
Delivering affordable service plans for Canadians
As we work to ensure all Canadians have access to telecommunications services, and that Canadian networks are among the highest quality in the world, we also want to make sure everyone has access to affordable choices - the third corner of our triangle.
We are addressing a common complaint: too often, Canadians feel like they pay more than they can afford for telecommunications services.
The Government's February 2023 policy direction instructed the Commission to renew our approach to telecommunications policy in Canada, and to consider how our decisions could promote competition, affordability, reliability, and consumer interests.
In the two years since that direction, we have taken action promoting those goals in both the cellphone service and Internet service markets in Canada.
In the cellphone market, our mobile virtual network operator (or MVNO) framework allows competitors to operate on the networks of Canada's incumbent mobile carriers. Competitors are now offering Canadians service plans in regions of the country where they previously had no presence and the impact on prices is apparent.
Through this framework, we are fostering greater competition across Canada and creating the conditions for more affordable choices. At the same time, we know that building and maintaining high-quality networks is expensive. So we are simultaneously providing incentives for companies to continue to make facilities-based investments. For example, competitors that take advantage of MVNO access must also build-out their own networks in the new areas they serve within seven years of the framework's launch. And our ongoing monitoring of compliance with that requirement will ramp up the closer we get to the seven-year sunset for this access in 2030.
We are similarly focused on seeing more affordable Internet service choices available to Canadians. This is an ongoing file, with several applications before us being considered. So far, for the first time, we have provided competitors with a workable way to sell Internet services using the fibre-to-the-home networks of large telephone companies. The data showed that our previous approach to wholesale fibre didn't produce the results that we wanted and Canadians deserved, so we pivoted. And more than a dozen companies are already using the new high-speed access framework to increase their competitive footprints.
Canadians are seeing increased competition in the high-speed Internet marketplace, and we hope that trend will continue. Here, too, it is important to add that we have put in place incentives for continued investment - wholesale rates will be cost-based, providing the network builder the opportunity to recover their investments. And for the first time ever, any new fibre-to-the-home access built by incumbent providers is exempt from competitor access until 2029, giving network builders a head-start on recovering their investments even before cost-based wholesale competition kicks in.
We expect continued downward pressure on telecom prices as a result of the changes we have made. And indeed, we are encouraged that year-over-year prices for Internet and cellphone services are trending in the right direction. But despite what the numbers say, many Canadians are telling us that they aren't seeing those savings.
We are exploring a range of options to determine how we can ensure Canadians are benefitting from greater competition. I am thrilled that increased competition has led to more and better service offerings in the marketplace. But the job isn't done until Canadians see improvements in the bills on their kitchen tables. This is another phrase that staff will become sick of hearing me repeat.
In fact, next week we will be holding a public hearing as part of our consultation on making it easier for consumers to shop for Internet services. This includes better labelling for Internet service plans, potentially presented the same way we see nutritional information on cereal boxes at the grocery store. Consumers deserve to have the services on offer presented to them simply and clearly, and we want them to have easy-to-compare information on each plan. This will make it easier to shop, and also make it easier to see whether consumers are getting what they pay for.
This is one of several consumer-centric consultations we have underway. We are also looking into establishing rules that would require service providers to notify customers when their current plans or discounts are about to expire; examining what fees service providers charge that may impede switching; and seeing what additional tools or portals consumers need to manage their plans with minimal hassle.
We look forward to finding new and innovative ideas to ensure affordable choices are available to all Canadians.
Conclusion
And that, I think, is a good place for me to wrap up today. The CRTC is focused on how we can best set up Canadian communications networks to deliver reliable, affordable and high-quality Internet and cellphone services to all Canadians, from coast to coast to coast. Competition and consumer empowerment are going to be pivotal.
It's a goal which, as I stated at the beginning, has not changed since the beginning of my career and that first Telecom Summit almost a quarter century ago. And although the frameworks, assumptions and environment may have changed, the fundamental way in which we work has not. Because at the end of the day, the CRTC relies on all Canadians, and all of you here today, to do our work.
CRTC decisions are made only after extensive public processes, including consultations, hearings, and outreach. There is ample opportunity for everyone to get involved and help shape our regulatory work. Please do not hesitate to reach out, have your voice heard, and help us to better understand your experience of Canada's communications systems.
Because we know that when we work together, we can reach positive solutions for everyone in Canadian telecommunications.
Thank you.
