CanWISP worried ISED proposals will reduce rural connectivity

"Stringent" limitations proposed for the non-competitive licensing (NCL) spectrum framework means small rural internet service providers (ISPs) will "have to drastically reduce the number of rural Canadians they serve," according to the Canadian Association of Wireless Internet Service Providers (CanWISP). The development comes as CanWISP members are getting kicked out of their current spectrum bands, according to the organization. CanWISP executive director Jonathan Black made the comments in a Thursday phone interview with the Wire Report a few days after ISED released the reply comments to its NCL framework proposal. The framework includes spectrum in the 3900-3980 MHz band and portions of the 26, 28 and 38 GHz (mmWave) bands. One of Canada’s leading spectrum experts told the Wire Report in October that the proposal will open up good chunks of spectrum to be used for rural, remote and Indigenous connectivity which will in turn open the door for smaller regional players. CanWISP is taking issue with two types of limits, area size and the amount of spectrum used that ISED has set out in its proposal, arguing it is harmful to the smaller players. ISED proposed that a single provider would be limited to between five and 20 per cent of a Tier 5 service area, and that no provider receive more than 20 megahertz as a frequency base in the tier area for which they are applying. BCE Inc. supported the limitations, arguing to ISED in its October intervention that limits will ensure that the framework is “not used to create a regional network that should use licenced commercial mobile spectrum.” In its Nov. 14 reply it reiterated that stance, arguing that “removing, or relaxing, the proposed geographic area restriction would jeopardize the localized nature of the licensing framework.” Black took issue with the incumbent’s response, and said that CanWISP is primarily concerned with finding an adequate replacement for the spectrum that its members have already been using for years, rather than opening up space for more regional players. The association did note, in its Nov. 14 reply comments, that the dominant incumbents would be the only beneficiaries of rules that prevent the creation of regional networks. Part of CanWISP’s gripe with the proposal stems from the fact that some of its members are being kicked out from the Wireless Broadband Service (WBS) band (3800 MHz), a decision the department made in 2021. Many of CanWISP’s members are using spectrum in the 3,650 MHz band which will no longer be in use as early as 2025 for delivering broadband internet. Instead it will be auctioned off in the 3,800 MHz auction, Black said. “So our members are looking at as a replacement for the spectrum they've been using for years. And yet ISED’s imposing limitations on this new spectrum.” “The challenge there is: some of our ISP members serve a whole Tier 5 area and frankly if you’re providing internet service to the population you want larger coverage areas,” Black said regarding ISED’s area limitations. “And 20 megahertz doesn't allow you to provide the best broadband service.” Black said Bell and Canada’s other dominant telecoms have argued in other consultations that they need 100 megahertz more of spectrum to give 5G service but “now they're saying in this consultation they don't think anyone should have more than 20 megahertz because they don't want to open up the markets for regional carriers.” Black said the spectrum cap should be as high as 80 megahertz in order to prove long-term broadband service. Sogetel Inc. and TekSavvy Solutions Inc. – in their initial October consultation comments – said that ISED should impose neither area nor spectrum limitations. An area limit in an individual Tier 5 service area “would render the NCL licensing framework entirely useless for service providers in rural and remote areas, and would likely deprive many rural Canadians of connectivity they already have access to today,” Sogetel wrote in October. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca.

CanWISP worried ISED proposals will reduce rural connectivity

News | December 1, 2022

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CanWISP worried ISED proposals will reduce rural connectivity

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