Obligation to Serve: These companies, markets, are unique and they are bridging the digital divide

TIMMINS - It’s hard to disagree with Northwestel’s assertion that when it comes to telecom operations, it is like no other.The Bell Canada-owned company’s networks cover about 115,000 people spread across 40% of Canada’s total land mass – or four million square kilometres.To say “there are important differences between the environment and the provision of telecommunications services in the far north as compared to the rest of Canada,” as the company’s president and CEO, Paul Flaherty told the CRTC Tuesday morning in Timmins, is quite an understatement.Flaherty appeared in front of commissioners during day one of the Regulator’s obligation to...