‘We did not cut it’: Scott defends broadband fund speed target to MPs

CRTC Chairman Ian Scott defended the eligibility speeds for the commission’s new $750 million rural broadband fund at a parliamentary hearing Thursday, where he faced criticism from an Opposition MP that accused the commission of lowering its standards. Conservative innovation critic Dan Albas pressed Scott over why the CRTC cut the “speed target in half, from 50 Mbps down to 25 Mbps?” “I am very pleased to answer that question because the premise is incorrect, with all due respect. We did not cut it. The target is 50,” Scott replied. He said if the eligibility threshold had been a hard 50 Mpbs, a lot of communities “would have to wait well after 2021 because they simply can’t get to 50 from where they are today – which may be 3 or 4 or 5 Mbps.” When the five-year rural broadband fund details were announced last fall, the speed target proved to be controversial among a number of groups who called it a step backward for being half the CRTC’s own basic service standard, which is 50 Mbps download speeds. The commission set a goal that 90 per cent of Canadians would have access those speeds by 2021. In the tense but polite exchange at the public accounts committee, Albas doubled-down. “Sir, with all due respect, you can say you did not cut it in half but the reality is your proposals for projects mandate a speed of 25 Mbps -- half of the proposed target,” he said. “To Canadians I speak to, that sounds a lot like a cut.” Scott argued the move increased the number of communities that could apply for funding. “We will only consider applications at 25 Mbps that have a clear path to 50. And it will result in more communities receiving a higher grade of service sooner than they otherwise would.” Scott later noted the first call for applications is expected in the coming months after a number of procedural steps are completed. He told the committee in his opening remarks that the CRTC will soon publish an update to its annual Communications Monitoring Report which will provide fresh data on broadband availability. The committee met Thursday to continue its study of the fall report of the late auditor general Michael Ferguson which examined rural internet project funding -- in particular, the Connect to Innovate program administered through Innovation, Science and Economic Development.

‘We did not cut it’: Scott defends broadband fund speed target to MPs

Brief | February 21, 2019

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‘We did not cut it’: Scott defends broadband fund speed target to MPs

Brief | February 21, 2019

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