Basic Internet service standards should be joint responsibility: CRTC survey

A combination of government intervention, market forces and use of a CRTC-established fund should be used to provide a minimum standard of Internet access across the country, according to results of a CRTC-commissioned study. Thirty-nine per cent of Canadians favoured the combined approach, while only 14 per cent were in favour of letting the telecommunications service providers decide when to provide the basic standard, said a report on the survey conducted by EKOS Research Associates released Wednesday. When separated by region, support for a combined approach rises to 41 per cent in urban areas while rural respondents gave a little more weight to having the CRTC establish a fund, bringing the proportion in favour of a combined approach down to 34 per cent. The survey was part of the second phase of the CRTC's consultation on basic telecom services, which has a three-week public hearing beginning April 11. As part of the study, focus groups featuring residents of rural and remote communities with limited or no access to Internet service were also interviewed. Most of the focus group participants said it was the government's responsibility to ensure a minimum level of access while some "also believe it is the responsibility of all levels of government or the telecommunications companies (that are making the money)," the report said. "Of those who feel there should be federal government involvement, most feel that the CRTC should serve as the lead in representing federal interests by bringing together the relevant governments, agencies, and telecommunications companies," the report said. "Even some who feel that the responsibility falls to the telecommunications companies to expand Internet service supported the need for the CRTC to establish requirements for minimum access and conditions for pricing." The Liberal government has included a five-year, $500-million program as part of its first budget, to "extend and enhance broadband service in rural and remote communities." The survey also suggested that prices for telecom services should be relatively flat for both rural and urban customers, with 65 per cent of respondents saying prices should be the same in rural areas compared to 27 per cent who think they should be a little bit higher. Unsurprisingly, rural residents were more likely to support flat pricing, with 74 per cent in favour. Rural residents are also more likely to have curbed their Internet use in the past 12 months, with 34 per cent of respondents limiting their use compared to 20 per cent of urban respondents. "There is a dichotomy of response: some limit use due to being active users reaching their monthly cap, others are limited by the quality of service they are able to get," the report said, with 36 per cent citing cost issues and 30 per cent pointing to capacity limitations. The proportion of those who limited their use jumped to 49 per cent for respondents with download speeds of less than 5 Mbps. Nearly 29,000 online and written responses were collected through the survey, which was accessible on the CRTC's website. A representative sample was compiled using online and telephone responses of 1,666 people over the age of 18 between Jan. 19 and Feb. 2, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20. The statistics referred to in this article are based on that representative sample. — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Basic Internet service standards should be joint responsibility: CRTC survey

News | March 30, 2016

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Basic Internet service standards should be joint responsibility: CRTC survey

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