“What are the telecommunications services that we consider to be so important, so essential, so fundamentally basic that they merit a subsidy to ensure universal access.” That was how I described the CRTC’s “Review of basic telecommunications services” in a series of interviews I did for CBC Radio on Monday.
In effect, I was saying that it comes down to money.
I wrote before that “One home’s subsidy is another home’s cost“. Some of the witnesses are talking about very serious levels of “investment” in broadband – enough to run Canada’s military for years, in the words of CRTC Vice-Chair Menzies.
In the words of CRTC Chair Blais:
The federal government’s recent budget announced investments to improve the availability of broadband Internet services across the country. These investments are in addition to the funding granted in the past.
On top of that, there are the financial resources that provincial governments, municipalities and band councils from coast to coast are devoting to broadband, not to mention the investments made by the private sector to improve and expand network coverage.
The point of these opening comments from the Chair was that there are a lot of agencies, at various levels of government, all working on the issue of enhancing broadband access and adoption. There is a lot of money being spent already on broadband.
One home’s subsidy is another home’s cost.
When the CRTC looked at this question in its 2010 basic services consultation, it decided to “continue to rely on market forces and targeted government funding” when it determined “that it would not be appropriate at this time to establish a funding mechanism to subsidize the deployment of broadband Internet access services.”
In his opening remarks, the Chair challenged witnesses to provide evidence of why that approach, by the CRTC, should not be continued:
The CRTC therefore issues the following challenge to the parties: demonstrate to us, using evidence, that the public interest and the specific situation in each region justify action by the CRTC. Explain to us why market forces are currently insufficient to respond to the public’s needs.
Have you heard testimony that met the challenge?