By Ahmad Hathout
CALGARY – Calgary has issued a notice to the public Thursday indicating its interest in entering a contract with Rogers to include a cohort of residents in the cable company’s Connected for Success low-income services program.
The pilot agreement would involve providing the city’s Fair Entry-eligible households with access to price-reduced services from Rogers, including internet, TV or wireless, for one year with an option to extend into the long term.
The city’s Fair Entry program does an income and residency assessment for residents to assess their eligibility for fee-reduced programs, which currently include property tax, senior home maintenance, parking and transit assistance. Those already in the program would be able to access Rogers’s services without additional screening, the notice said.
The scope of the contract involves improving the city’s digital equity strategy by connecting more people to the internet, bringing on more fee-reduced services for the city’s Fair Entry program and raising awareness among clients of available subsidies.
The contract involves no monetary funds being exchanged between Rogers and the city, the notice said.
Thursday’s notice is a matter of fair process to see if there are other providers that can provide those services the city is seeking.
Bell’s newly acquired Distributel is listed as an interested bidder, according to a list provided by the city.
The deadline is September 18.
The Rogers Connected for Success program offers internet speeds of 25 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload for $10 per month; the federal objective speeds of 50/10 for $15 per month; and 150/30 for $35 per month. All packages include unlimited data.
It also provides discounted TV services and bundles.
The program is currently available to people receiving provincial income support, provincial disability benefits, seniors on the Federal Guaranteed Income Supplement, those on the maximum Canada Child Benefit, those under the Resettlement Assistance Program, and those in rent-geared-to-income tenants in non-profit housing.
It is currently offered in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador
Rogers had committed to several initiatives as part of its acquisition of Shaw, whose headquarters in western Canada is in Calgary. Besides billions of dollars in investments rollout 5G and improve its networks, it also committed to expanding access to its existing low-cost broadband internet plans.
