CNOC calls for gov’t funding to keep Canadians connected

The federal government should guarantee internet service providers payments for “basic residential connectivity needs” so Canadians can remain connected during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) president Matt Stein says. Stein said in a phone interview that the financial support would mean ISPs would not have to cut people off when they failed to pay a bill, highlighting the large number of Canadians who have lost or will lose their job as a result of COVID-19. A number of carriers including Telus Corp., BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. have already announced flexible payment options for customers struggling to pay their bills, but have not outlined their exact disconnection policies. “You’ve already seen some carriers announce some steps in regards to this but Canadians are going to look to push as many bills as they can,” Stein said. “I’m certainly not suggesting it’s on the level of food or anything like that, but if we’re all in our homes, we’re using the internet to get out of our home, so to speak… the internet has taken on an even more important role than it had before. “I think as the government deals with the crucial and ultra important things that they’ve been dealing with, it’s now time that they do also turn their mind to making sure Canadians can stay connected.” Stein said that the government support should be a payment directly to telecommunication service providers, and consist of the difference between a company’s usual bad debt, and its bad debt during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prohibiting wireless and internet disconnection for all customers without the “explicit, individual prior consent” of the CRTC during the COVID-19 pandemic is one demand of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, ACORN Canada and the National Pensioners Federation, who put out a release calling for industry-wide action on Tuesday. Their asks for retail internet also included customers getting unlimited data at no extra cost and the prohibition of price increases and overage fees. A temporary ban on price increases and overage fees was also part of the coalition’s ask for wireless services, as well as the doubling of data caps at no extra cost. They also produced a series of asks for low income Canadians and fixed income seniors, which include free retail internet access services and a $30-a-month, bring your own device postpaid wireless plan that includes unlimited Canada-wide voice and SMS and 10 GBs of data. Asked about Stein’s call for financial support from the government to ensure telecommunication companies could keep Canadians connected, PIAC general counsel John Lawford said in a phone interview that he was not opposed to the government “footing the bill” but questioned how the scheme would operate and whether it would take the form of funding or a loan. “I think it is appropriate to funnel money through the companies to pay for consumers bills so they have the right level of connectivity to get through this,” Lawford said. He said voluntary offers of suspending data overages and flexible payment plans demonstrated the resources of providers, but predicted many, especially smaller providers, could have difficulty continuing to do so for more than three months. A spokesperson for Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said the government is engaging “regularly with Canada’s telecommunications and internet service providers to ensure that they can continue to provide the essential services upon which we all rely to stay connected.” — With reporting by Adam Langenberg at alangenberg@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

CNOC calls for gov’t funding to keep Canadians connected

News | April 7, 2020

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CNOC calls for gov’t funding to keep Canadians connected

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