Telus, Cogeco back Bell on pausing contributions; PIAC comes up with idea for unawarded money

Telus Corp. and Cogeco Inc. are rowing in behind Bell's request for the CRTC to stop collecting money for its National Contribution Fund until the regulator can spend the money it has already collected. According to Bell's December review and vary application, the commission collected roughly $148 million more than it awarded through the NCF, which funds CRTC initiatives like the Broadband Fund, and the Canadian Administrator of video-relay service (CAV). Therefore, Bell argued in the application, the CRTC should stop collecting into the fund until a review of the Broadband Fund is conducted, and return the unspent $148 million to the telecom service providers. In a Feb. 7 intervention on Bell's application, Cogeco argued that "not only is there already a significant difference between the amounts that TSPs have set-aside to be used by the Broadband Fund and the investments the fund has awarded, but there is also now a significant time delay preventing the timely disbursement of the funds already collected in the remaining two years of the initiative". This delay, Cogeco added, "warrants the Commission pressing 'pause' on the collection of additional contributions immediately." While not commenting on whether or not it would like the $148 million to be returned to the telecom companies, Telus wrote that it, too, supports the pausing of the collection. There "is now a significant misalignment of the amount and rate of broadband funding collected compared to the amount and rate of funds awarded and distributed," Telus wrote. "In light of this situation, the commission should immediately cease collecting additional contributions for the CRTC Broadband Fund until the commission has concluded the policy review of the Broadband Fund it intends to conduct in 2023." The company also made it clear that it still supports the existence of the Broadband Fund and its objectives. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) agreed with Bell's assertion that the commission seems unable to efficiently distribute the money it has on hand. However, PIAC argued, the CRTC should continue to collect funds, but only after the creation of a deferral account mechanism under which funds can be held pending the outcome of the planned review of the Broadband Fund. "Respectfully, PIAC submits that TSPs generally do not need their contributions back," the organization wrote, and called for the setting aside of $25 million from the unawarded $148 million for a trial study on affordability in the Far North. Such a study "would bring much-needed affordability support to historically underserved and economically challenged consumers. The initiative would also potentially provide the Commission with a cost-effective proof-of-concept for a nationwide affordability subsidy," PIAC wrote. — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca.

Telus, Cogeco back Bell on pausing contributions; PIAC comes up with idea for unawarded money

News | February 10, 2023

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Telus, Cogeco back Bell on pausing contributions; PIAC comes up with idea for unawarded money

News | February 10, 2023

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