Claire Anderson, Commissioner for British Columbia and Yukon
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
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Thank you so much for your warm welcome and hospitality. My thanks, especially, to the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations for sharing their unceded traditional territories with us for this meeting. I recognize that I am an uninvited guest on these lands, so I am grateful to the Coast Salish people for allowing us to be here today.
I am so pleased to be back at your conference again this year. I found last year's session very helpful in getting to know many of you and to have a better understanding of your interests and concerns. I look forward to learning more about your industry's outlook for the coming year.
I commend the BCBA for bringing together Internet providers, equipment vendors and regulators like me to observe your progress in building and delivering advanced services and networks throughout the province. I also salute your advocacy work on behalf of your members, ensuring your sector's voice is heard in CRTC proceedings.
Your input and insights are valuable in helping us determine how best to ensure Canadians have access to the world-class telecommunications system that they need for every aspect of their lives.
Our job at the Commission is to help create a system that fosters competition, affordability, reliability and innovation. This requires that we make sure Canadians benefit from more choice, lower prices and innovative services.
These are absolute necessities in the 21st century. The communications environment is evolving rapidly, and it is vital that Canadians have every opportunity to participate in our democracy, culture and economy.
So, too, is listening closely to all Canadians who bring wide-ranging perspectives to our work at the CRTC. We want to build as diverse a public record as possible and pledge to hold consultations that are open, transparent and respectful to make sure we do.
CRTC overview
I'll talk more about current and upcoming proceedings that may be of interest to you in a moment. However, I think it would be useful to start by providing a broad overview of recent developments at the Commission that are changing the way we work.
The most notable change is the recent appointments of our new Chairperson, Vicky Eatrides, and our Vice-Chairs, Alicia Barin and Adam Scott, who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their new roles.
Their leadership bodes well for the Commission as we fulfill the new policy direction given to the CRTC by the government - another major development in the past few months.
The policy direction instructs us to consider how our decisions encourage all forms of competition, improve affordability and lower prices, and strengthen the rights of consumers. In particular, the Commission should consider how its decisions ensure that affordable access to high-quality and reliable telecommunications services is available in all regions of Canada, including rural areas, remote areas and Indigenous communities. Further, the policy stresses the need for Commissioners to move quickly and to rely on sound evidence in our decision making.
We at the CRTC welcome the new policy direction. It complements and enhances the actions we are already taking to protect consumer interests and foster competition, both of which directly link to our other objectives: affordability and innovation. It provides us with clear directions. Even more essential, it responds to the needs and expectations of Canadians.
The Commission is determined to build Canadians' trust by delivering tangible results through timely decisions, and by improving our processes - positive changes you will see as this ambitious agenda unfolds in the coming months.
Mobile market competition
We are actively advancing this agenda on multiple fronts. For instance, the CRTC is accelerating competition for mobile services by helping regional competitors establish themselves in the market. This will promote competition and lower prices for consumers, while also encouraging investment in reliable networks.
We are requiring that Bell, Rogers, Telus and SaskTel give regional competitors wholesale access to their networks. This will enable these businesses to grow their customer base while they build or invest in their own networks.
Bell, Rogers, Telus and SaskTel must also implement seamless roaming between their networks and those of their competitors. This aims to reduce dropped calls and interrupted data use when customers move from one network to another, especially during travel.
In addition, regional competitors will be able to offer roaming services on the larger providers' 5G networks, at rates, terms and conditions set by the CRTC when they become available. Smaller regional wireless providers in rural areas should particularly benefit from this initiative.
We're closely monitoring negotiations between the large wireless companies and regional providers. We expect them to reach agreements quickly, so that Canadians have more options to choose from, particularly in areas where competition is currently limited.
Internet market competition
We're also taking steps to improve competition in the Internet services market.
Earlier this year, we set new timelines to help smaller competitors build high-speed Internet networks more quickly through faster access to the telephone poles owned by the large companies. This will help competitors roll out their networks more quickly and efficiently, leading to more competition across the country.
Last month, we launched a consultation to tackle competition in the Internet services market more broadly. The goal of the consultation is to create more choice and lower prices. While prices for some telecommunications services are declining, that has not been the case for Internet services and we know they are often still too high for many Canadians.
We recognize that the Commission's current approach is not meeting its objective of boosting competition in the market. So, as a first step, we recently reduced certain wholesale rates by 10% to provide immediate relief to smaller competitors. Beyond that, we will re-examine the rates competitors pay to access the networks of the large telephone and cable companies.
As well, we are looking at accelerating competitive access to fibre networks across Canada. This will be the first issue we address as part of our review since it would give Canadians more choice of higher speed Internet services.
As we study these issues, we know it's crucial that we find the right balance between lowering prices and continued investment in high-quality, reliable networks.
We would like to hear from all interested parties, including the BCBA and its members. You have until June 22 to submit your views on the public record. You do not need a regulatory team or a lawyer on staff to meaningfully participate and help advance a proceeding. Simply shining light on an issue can be very helpful.
Broadband Fund
Our determination to improve services to Canadians extends to our efforts to ensure rural, remote and Indigenous communities have access to high-speed Internet.
The CRTC's Broadband Fund is already helping to improve access to more than 200 rural and remote communities, including 89 Indigenous communities, through the projects that it's helping to fund. As good as these results are, we know we can - and must - do better to make sure Canadians from coast to coast to coast can fully participate in today's digital world.
Late last month, we launched a public consultation to review the Broadband Fund to ensure we are doing all we can to close the remaining connectivity gaps as quickly as possible.
Among the things we are looking at, we propose to create a new funding stream for Indigenous communities. We also want to identify ways to make it easier and faster to apply for and receive funding - a source of frequent complaints from applicants.
We know the current process to evaluate and select projects can be demanding for small service providers and not as transparent as some might wish. We are looking forward to hearing your views on how to improve the process.
Something else we've often heard is the need for help cover the ongoing operating costs. That's why we also are considering helping Fund recipients with expenses such as operational costs and supporting improved reliability of networks.
We need input from everyone with an interest in improving high-speed Internet in rural and remote areas, especially service providers. I encourage you to make your voices heard. This is a great way to influence the future of the Broadband Fund, as the public record forms the basis for Commission decisions.
Because we feel it is so important to hear what Canadians have to say, we're providing a long comment period to enable as many people as possible to provide input. You will be able to participate up until July 21, and we really hope you will do so.
In the meantime, we continue to accept applications under our third call for funding from the Broadband Fund. The deadline for submissions has been extended to May 16. You can find information about the types of eligible projects on the CRTC website.
Participation in CRTC consultations
I've spoken about two of our ongoing proceedings. I'd like to take a moment to explain why your participation is so important.
The CRTC counts on the input of a broad range of interested parties to build its public record - everyone from individual Canadians to consumer interest groups to academics to the companies that provide the communications services we all depend on. Our decisions are based entirely on the views and evidence we receive as part of our consultations. This means that our decisions are only as good as the public record before us.
