Residents want CRTC to allow more competition in ‘monopolistic’ North

Canadian residents in the North want the CRTC to allow enhanced competition to break up the “monopolistic” landscape of internet services in the area, according to an Environics Research report commissioned by the regulator. The report, based on the results of both quantitative and qualitative surveys of residents of Northern Canada found mixed views about their current internet provider’s efforts to meet their household needs, with 36 per cent deeming the effort as excellent or good, 31 per cent branding it as average and 34 per cent grading it as poor or very poor. Negative views of internet services were more prominent in communities with fewer than 1,000 residents. The quantitative survey, which asked six quantitative omnibus questions as part of Environics’ annual North of 60° & Remote Community Monitor, found 95 per cent of respondents had access to a landline service, 86 per cent had internet access and 78 per cent had a cell phone, but all three were less common in smaller population areas and among Indigenous people. Respondents cited cost, quality and reliability of service and speed as the main concerns. Of those respondents with access to internet services, 65 per cent said BCE Inc. subsidiary Northwestel is their provider, while SSI Micro Inc. was identified as the main service provider in Nunavut and Tamaani in Nunavik, but was only listed as the internet provider of nine per cent of respondents. The quantitative survey of 1,000 northern Canadians, which has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent, included respondents from Nunavik and Labrador, outside of Northwestel’s service area. The research was commissioned as part of the CRTC’s consultation to review the regulatory framework for Northwestel, and the state of telecommunications services in the north, where it is the dominant provider. Environics also conducted seven focus groups of between three and seven Northern Canadians in the Yukon, North West Territories, Nunavut and areas of northern British Columbia served by Northwestel. Focus group participants were more negative about their internet service provider than they were about their mobile or landline service provider, according to the report, listing their main concerns about internet services as being priced too high for the service received, which is hampered by network outages and slow speeds. Frustrations about internet service were “most evident among those who have personally experienced better Internet and lower prices when living in southern Canada or have heard of their friends’ and families’ experiences in southern Canada,” the report, published online on Tuesday, stated. “Participants viewed Northwestel’s dominance as “monopolistic” and expressed a desire for more competitors to enter the north in hopes it would lower prices and give them the option of more reliable and faster Internet service,” the report states. One focus group participant, a teacher in Nunavut, said nearly half of their students didn’t have internet access at home when schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and teaching shifted online in March. Focus group participants felt they had more choice in mobile phone providers and were generally satisfied with the service received, the report states, but participants in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut cited a lack of cell service outside town or city limits. Further, a lack of cell phone service in northern British Columbia communities raised security concerns associated with being unable to reach emergency services when away from home. The deadline for public comments on the CRTC’s proceeding looking at the state of telecommunications services in the North is Jan. 20.

Residents want CRTC to allow more competition in ‘monopolistic’ North

Brief | January 13, 2021

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Residents want CRTC to allow more competition in ‘monopolistic’ North

Brief | January 13, 2021

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