Price commitment applies to wireless, but not road coverage: CRTC

The CRTC has clarified that the pricing commitment in its $750-million Broadband Fund will not apply to funds used only for new mobile wireless coverage along major roads. BCE Inc. had filed an application with the regulator late last year asking it to remove some pricing stipulations from the Broadband Fund’s call for applications. Specifically, it wanted to remove a paragraph stating that applicants to the fund must “commit to providing mobile wireless service packages at a rate no higher and with a capacity no lower that the ones proposed in its application, for a minimum of five years from the project completion date.” Bell argued it shouldn’t apply that criterion to wireless plans because mobile wireless services are not tethered to a given area, and because it doesn’t make sense to create a custom pricing plan for an area along a major road that may have only a handful of households. In a decision Thursday, the CRTC said Bell’s application didn’t meet the criteria for the regulator to change the rules, which were established in an earlier 2018 decision, and that the pricing commitment does apply to mobile services. But it also clarified that the pricing criterion doesn’t apply to coverage along major roads. It said under the Broadband Fund, there are two types of projects for wireless coverage; those covering hexagons with households, and those extending coverage along major roads. “Any project where the applicant has selected the first type of eligible geographic area, i.e. an inhabited hexagon, will require the applicant to commit to providing mobile wireless service packages at a rate no higher and with a capacity no lower than the ones proposed in the application in those hexagons, for a minimum of five years from the project completion date,” it said. “However, mobile wireless projects where the applicant has solely selected part of a major transportation road for the eligible geographic areas will not require such a commitment.” But projects covering those hexagons will be considered “higher-quality” by the CRTC and funding will be provided only for eligible costs, it added. “As such, any costs associated with the provision of service in these eligible hexagons will not be eligible if the hexagons are not included in the application,” the CRTC said.

Price commitment applies to wireless, but not road coverage: CRTC

Brief | March 12, 2020

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Price commitment applies to wireless, but not road coverage: CRTC

Brief | March 12, 2020

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