Opens call for Broadband Fund applications in the North
TORONTO – In a focused speech to Canadian Telecom Summit delegates today, CRTC chair Ian Scott had a strong message for the nation’s telecom carriers: Do Better.
Serve customers better, be more competitive by offering more diverse products and services, lower prices, help cut spam, and close the digital gap, were the themes that Scott drove home.
When it comes to that last one, closing of the digital gap in some of the underserved regions of the country, Scott brought along some news: The CRTC is today calling for the first applications for network operators wishing to tap into its $750 million broadband fund – a fund which was built on the back of the prior regime which long pulled revenue from incumbent telcos to help subsidize phone service to deep rural regions where building a phone system made no economic sense.
This new fund is meant to back projects to improve broadband access and mobile wireless in regions of the country where it makes no business sense to launch service levels which meet the CRTC’s universal service objective of: 50 Mbps download/10 Mbps upload for fixed broadband services; and having the latest mobile wireless technology available not only to all homes and businesses, and also along major Canadian roads.
In the call for applications, said Scott, “we invite applicants to propose all types of projects targeted at making meaningful improvements in broadband and mobile infrastructure in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, as well as satellite-dependent communities across Canada.” A call for other regions will come later, but applications for this first call are due in October.
“We chose to target these regions in our first call for applications because these are the parts of the country in which there is a significant need for improvement,” Scott added in his Monday afternoon speech. “How significant? The latest data tells us that no households in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have access to a broadband service that meets the universal service objective, and 72% of major roads are not covered by LTE service. The digital divide is also evident in satellite-dependent communities across the country where there is no terrestrial connectivity.”
Scott also told operators they simply must treat their customers much more respectfully and to stop bamboozling them with confusing offers for stuff they don’t need. Canadians have been clear with network operators (especially during last fall’s hearing into misleading and aggressive sales practices, for which the CRTC published its report in February), said Scott. “They want their service providers to treat them with respect. They want to know that the person they’re dealing with—whether on the phone, in person or over the Web—is trustworthy. They want a marketplace for services that fosters choice, innovation and better prices,” he explained.
“No provider should treat consumers like this. You can do better. You must do better.” Ian Scott, CRTC
He cited several instances where certain customers were certainly wronged, including one where an autistic customer “who is challenged by verbal interactions, was denied written information from a provider’s sales and support teams,” noting these types of mistakes happen far too often. “No provider should treat consumers like this. You can do better. You must do better,” he said.
Scott also reminded the industry that his Commission will soon roll out its own secret shopper program so it can see first-hand how telcos, cellcos and cablecos sales practices meet customers. “If we find that these practices aren’t being curtailed, rest assured that we will use all the enforcement tools available to us,” he warned, adding he’s not a fan of carriers charging their customers for tech support either.
Customers, as carriers of all stripes know, are convinced that what they pay for wireless and broadband is far too much – and they are clamouring for more choice. “Consumers are best served by choice. Indeed, the need to improve choice and affordability for Canadians was precisely what drove us to bring forward our comprehensive review of the state of the mobile wireless market in February. We had originally planned to hold that review next year, but given that the market has not evolved as we expected, waiting even an extra year was too long, something the CRTC is now committed to pursuing,” Scott continued.
This is something the federal government is hot to make happen, too. Federal officials, including Innovation, Science and Economic Development minister Navdeep Bains, have gone on the record saying one of the best ways to provide choice is for the Commission to mandate mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs, or wireless resellers.).
The market is changing for the better, said Scott, explaining the 2018 pricing data which the Regulator will release next month “indicates that prices for wireless services have decreased across all service baskets.” However, it’s not enough – and it’s not happening fast enough. “More can be done to advance consumer interests,” he added.
“We want to see a broader range of affordable wireless options for consumers.” – Scott
“We want to see a broader range of affordable wireless options for consumers. We want to ensure that the framework for wholesale mobile wireless services responds to the needs of Canadians, and we want to understand how increased competitive choice, including mobile virtual network operators—MNVOs—can be supported in the market.
“This last point is particularly important. MVNOs have been unable to gain a significant foothold in the market. It’s our preliminary view that a robust and competitive wireless market that includes participation from MVNOs will increase choice, innovation and affordability for Canadians. Regulatory intervention may be required at least until such time as MVNOs can properly establish themselves in the market,” explained Scott.
(Cartt.ca has covered the MVNO question the context of the wireless review comments here, here and here)
One great way to make customers like you, he also told carriers in the room during his speech, would be to tackle the illegal spam and telemarketing that happens on their networks. “The CRTC receives more contacts about nuisance communications—specifically, spam and telemarketing—than any other subject,” he said.
There’s no reason to wait for government or the CRTC to tell you what to do about it, he continued. “Many of you in this room have been actively working on minimizing the effects of spoofing, investigating technical solutions at the network level and exploring options for Canadians to manage their telephone services,” he added. “While these initiatives are driven by recent regulatory policies, you don’t need to wait for regulation to be of assistance.
“We need more action from industry—from you—to protect consumers from these and other forms of nuisance communications. How can you do that? By sharing information on bad actors making use of your networks – this abuse leaves behind traces that you are uniquely positioned to see – and by holding your own partners—vendors, contractors and other third parties—to the high standards that I know you place on your own business, the more effective we can be.”
