In its deferral account decision at the beginning of the year, the CRTC acknowledged that fixed wireless broadband that can deliver a service comparable to DSL.
However, as the CRTC ruled yesterday, not all fixed wireless service is the same.
In reviewing the fixed wireless service used by Mitchell Seaforth Cable TV to extend the reach of its service, the CRTC found that the $600 one-time service charge “is sufficiently large so as to be unaffordable for a large proportion of residents.”
As such, the Commission is going to allow Bell to draw funds from the deferral account in order to off-set the uneconomic portion of its business case to provide DSL service to certain portions of Dublin, Ontario. The Commission’s policy is that some variation in rates is to be expected and is acceptable. However, the rates cannot be considered comparable when a significant installation cost applies. The Commission makes an assessment of whether the service charges, alone or in combination with the monthly fee, make the service “unreasonably expensive for a large proportion of the general public in the identified community.”
There is no presumption that rates have to be subsidized; just a reasonably comparable affordability test.
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