By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA — Far north service provider SSi Canada is urging the CRTC to push back by a month the deadline for applications to its third round of its $750-million broadband subsidy program.
The April 18 deadline for applications for money from the Broadband Fund “creates significant difficulties and a barrier to participation” for First Nation and Inuit communities across the far north, said a procedural request letter dated late last month from Dean Proctor, chief development officer of SSi Canada. The provider is asking for an extension until, at least, May 16.
The issues identified include the limited resources these providers have to put toward regulatory matters, as the deadline coincides with the CRTC’s hearing on its telecommunications in the far north proceeding. SSi argues that many of the parties participating in that proceeding will likely want to apply for funding.
“The coincidence of the public hearing to consider the many issues outlined in [the proceeding] with the deadline…will make it extremely difficult for eligible applicants and community groups to participate in both proceedings,” SSi said in the letter.
The proceeding will feature a new-look commission, as Vicky Eatrides has officially taken over as chair and as a new vice chair of telecommunications in Adam Scott, who comes from Innovation Canada.
The CRTC will also have to grapple with a Bell application that requests the commission quit collecting money for the Broadband Fund — as it schedules to do annually — until it has disbursed the funds it already collected from previous years.
