GATINEAU, WINNIPEG – The CRTC today announced it is giving a one-time payment of nearly $9.9 million to MTS Allstream after the telco applied for a review of the subsidies it receives to serve remote locations.
The payment is to cover providing service in high-cost areas of Manitoba from Jan. 1, 2002 to Oct. 16, 2003.
"The CRTC has recognized that MTS Allstream has met its obligations to deliver a high quality of service to customers in high-cost and remote areas," said Chris Peirce, Chief Regulatory Officer, MTS Allstream Inc. "We are very pleased to have worked with the Commission to resolve this matter in a way that properly reflects the true cost these obligations impose on our operations."
Today’s announced payment of $9.893 million is in addition to the $10.14 million the commission awarded in subsidies for high-cost areas, announced last September.
The telco applied in November for the commission to review that subsidy because the company had made an error in applying for the grant, and the amount was nearly doubled with today’s announcement. “The Commission considers that the error that led to MTS Allstream’s original mis-assignment of exchanges was an honest mistake made during the implementation period of a new subsidy regime,” the CRTC announcement said.
