BSO Hearing Day 7: Bell tells Commission to stay out of affordability question (corrected)

By Perry Hoffman

Other subsidies can be re-directed, tooGATINEAU – The CRTC’s primary role when it comes to ensuring broadband is accessible by all Canadians should be to focus on the deployment of networks rather than dealing with affordability issues, something which is better handled by other organizations, according to Bell Canada.Speaking at the Commission’s basic service objective hearing on Tuesday, Rob Malcolmson, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at BCE Inc. noted that low income Canadians are still subscribing to broadband services even if they can’t afford it. They are simply giving up other things to do so.“This is fundamentally a poverty issue...