Quebec’s $900 million broadband pledge expected to light up dark fibre networks

The Quebec government is expected to “light up” thousands of kilometres of dark fibre in the province as it plans to spend $900 million over the next 10 years on broadband connectivity. The Quebec government’s provincial budget, introduced March 17, announced a priority “to equip Quebec with a network offering very high-speed internet service in every region of Quebec by 2020.” The budget document said “infrastructure investments totalling $900 million will be made by 2020.” Robert Proulx, president of small Quebec ISP Xittel Telecommunications Inc., said in an interview that the province has thousands of kilometers of dark fibre already laid, linking schools, universities, libraries, hospitals, electricity stations, city halls, and other public buildings. Dark fibre is fibre optic cable that has been laid but is not in use. The provincial Liberal government’s budget plan says the broadband strategy will focus on existing networks throughout the province that connect various public buildings. About 20 per cent of the $900 million will be invested in semi-urban areas but the remainder will go to rural and remote areas, the budget said. The funds will be focused on fibre optics but will also be used for detection equipment, network connectors and telecom infrastructure, the government said. “For this strategy to be successful, the capacity of existing infrastructures, both public and private, will have to be developed and upgraded. It is expected that the bulk of these strategic investments will be made on existing networks,” the budget plan says. Isabelle Mercille, a spokeswoman for Michelle Courchesne, the president of the Quebec treasury board secretariat, said the government will soon issue a request for proposals for companies to bid on projects. Mercille could not say what percentage of connectivity in the province will be by fibre. But she said details about the plan, such as funding envelopes and when they will be allocated, will be revealed in a government announcement in the coming months. The Quebec government’s Village Branchés program, launched in 2002, sought to connect schools, municipalities, libraries, and other public buildings in all regions of Quebec to broadband networks. Proulx said the program has spent about $250 million since its launch and has resulted in the rollout of extensive dark fibre networks throughout the province. Xittel helped deploy much of the dark fibre under the program. “We’ve proposed that they use these networks for development of the network in Quebec, rather than buying back networks from Bell , Telus , and others,” Proulx said. “They’ve already invested in that, so I suppose this is what they mean , and we’ve recommended that for a long time.” Xittel was also involved in the deployment of the Réseau d’informations scientifiques du Québec (RISQ), which connects universities and CEGEPs. The budget plan says the government, for the broadband deployment, also intends to make use of the RISQ network and another provincial health and government network called the Réseau intégré de télécommunications multimédia. “The objective of the strategy will be to boost the capacity of individuals and businesses to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies,” Quebec Finance Minister Raymand Bachand said in the legislature on budget day in March. “Its priority will be to ensure affordable access to high-speed service throughout Quebec by 2020.” He added: “It is highly likely that, in a few years, the current infrastructure in Quebec will no longer be able to provide the required level of quality of service.” The budget document also notes that, in addition to the $900 million, funds of $1.1 million in 2011-2012, $4.5 million in 2012-2013 and $9 million in 2013-2014 will be allocated for the plan. Bill St. Arnaud, a technology consultant in Ottawa, said in an interview that he hopes the Quebec government builds on the strategy implemented in the Village Branchés program, which contracted independent companies, as opposed to incumbent telcos, to lay dark fibre. “They put in the fibre, and then they can sell the strands to businesses and schools and so forth,” he said. He said he expects the provincial fibre network to extend as far as possible into rural areas. Where necessary, providers can patch fixed wireless services to the fibre connections, he said. Proulx said he is concerned that the Quebec government’s announcement could delay private sector initiatives as companies put projects on hold to wait for public funding. “Everybody will wait, and they’ll kill the market. They’ll kill all the work in that area,” he said. Hank Intven, a telecom policy expert and partner with McCarthy Tétrault in Toronto, said the provincial initiative is a good one given that, five years ago, the Telecom Policy Review Panel report recommended that the federal government “immediately commence a program to ensure that affordable and reliable broadband services are available in all regions of Canada, including urban, rural and remote areas, by 2010 at the latest.” He also noted that a study last year by the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society said Canada’s “recent broadband development has lagged behind other developed nations.” The CRTC’s Communications Monitoring Report has said that, in 2009, about 62 per cent of Canadian households had broadband Internet service of 1.5 Mbps or higher and 72 per cent had a high-speed Internet connection. The CRTC said broadband service, excluding satellite, is available to 95 per cent of the population. Intven said he envisions Quebec’s high-speed network services to be combination of wireline, fixed wireless and possibly satellite broadband as companies come forward with proposals. “The issue that always arises is competitive equity. That’ll be something the province will want to watch to make sure that it’s technology-neutral and supplier-neutral,” he said. The federal Conservative government previously allocated $225 million over three years toward extending broadband coverage to rural and remote areas. On Friday the Conservatives unveiled their election campaign platform, promising to extend broadband coverage to an additional 200,000 households in rural and remote regions. The Liberal party election platform, also released this month, said the party would allocate $500 million to broadband connectivity nationally. The funds would come from the proceeds of a government spectrum auction for the 700 MHz band, the party said. sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

Quebec’s $900 million broadband pledge expected to light up dark fibre networks

News | April 8, 2011

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