OTTAWA – Bell is falling far behind schedule in rolling out broadband services to rural communities using public funds and will only have 12 Commission-approved communities completed by year’s end, not the 49 communities it forecast says the CRTC. The regulator is now demanding that Bell Canada and Bell Aliant submit quarterly reports on the status of their deferral account project to ensure it gets back on schedule in order to be completed as agreed by August, 2014.
In an August, 2010 decision regarding how Bell should dispose of the funds remaining in its deferral account the Commission directed the Bell companies to deploy broadband services in the approved communities using least-cost technology, and to make services available that would be comparable to the services that they provide in urban areas in terms of rates, terms and conditions, upload and download speeds, and reliability.
Rogers argued in January of 2011 that it should have been allowed to use deferral account money to deploy networks in 15 communities – those covered under the first year of Bell’s four-year plan – with service to the remaining 97 communities made available through competitive bidding.
Rogers maintained that the CRTC should establish a bidding process similar to previous broadband programs and conduct the auction that year to eliminate any further delays. It noted that it could roll out networks to those 97 communities for $50 million less than Bell and do it in the same or shorter time frame than Bell has proposed. The process it argued should be open to alternative broadband providers and the one who meets certain criteria and bids the lowest amount of subsidy to compete the network rollout would be awarded the licence.
Ironically, Bell at the time argued it was patently wrong for Rogers Communications to suggest that the CRTC can adopt a competitive bidding process for the rights to roll out broadband networks in Bell’s deferral account communities and not experience any further delays. Bell even launched action in the Federal Court of Canada against Rogers’ petition.
Telus agreed with Bell that the petition would introduce additional delays in rolling out broadband to deferral account communities and would reopen a debate twice rejected by the CRTC and then again by Cabinet.
Some 16 months later the Commission in its October 26 letter to Bell Canada and Bell Aliant now says its “concerned” that Bell’s forecast to rollout broadband services using wireless technology to a total of 112 communities by August 31, 2014 will not be completed on time. Bell’s companies had planned to roll out service to 15 communities in 2011, 34 communities in 2012, 37 communities in 2013, and 26 communities in 2014.
The Commission noted that Bell’s last update on July 31, 2012 indicated that the Bell companies have turned up broadband service in only three communities using digital subscriber line (DSL) technology and plans to turn up broadband service in nine communities over the course of 2012 using wireless technology. This will result in broadband services being available in a total of 12 Commission-approved communities by the end of 2012, rather than in 49 communities as the Bell companies had originally forecasted.
The Commission also noted that Bell’s update report indicates it will not turn up broadband services to any of the other 100 Commission-approved communities during 2013.
In response the Commission is now requiring Bell to file quarterly reports that update the information contained in their July 31, 2012 report. The reports must provide:
- A summary of the progress of the rollout;
- The status of IS/IT system development to support the retail wireless broadband system, including the expected completion date;
- The status of wireline transport backbone construction;
- The status of wireless access construction by community;
- The service ready date, achieved or planned, by community;
- A description of any significant changes to the previous report and reasons for those changes;
- Information about any delays in radio frequency testing and electronics implementation;
- A list of communities where negotiations have begun for placement of cell towers for wireless broadband service and the status of such negotiations;
- A summary of the results of any testing of customers ’ wireless broadband service, including effects on the rollout schedule and lessons learned; and
- The steps the Bell companies are taking to avoid excessive delays due to any of the above.
These reports must be filed within 15 days after the end of each quarter, beginning with the quarter ending December 2012 and ending after the rollout of broadband service to the approved communities has been completed.
The Commission indicated that if it “continues to be concerned by the pace of the rollout activities, it will consider initiating a proceeding to determine whether stricter timelines need to be imposed, and what consequences (such as reapplying interest charges) could be made to apply if the rollout is not completed by the established timelines.”
