CRTC Broadband Fund: At risk of another deferral account fiasco (UPDATED)

By Perry Hoffman

GATINEAU – Some of the project evaluation and eligibility criteria proposed by the CRTC for its new broadband deployment fund must be altered or it risks repeating the deferral account fiasco, according to comments on a new broadband funding regime.Introduced as part of the Basic Service Objective decision last year, the proposed funding model would provide much needed capital to broadband deployment projects in unserved and underserved communities across the country. It also set a new standard called the Universal Service Objective (USO) with a minimum requirement of 50/10 Mbps.In comments to Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2017-112, interveners told...