The
SSI Group is asking the CRTC to veto a Northwestel proposal to build
3G/4G wireless broadband services for consumers in Northern Canada.
SSI pounted out that Northwestel will be using a public benefits fund
to fund said project.
Back in July,
Northwestel presented a plan to the CRTC where the Canadian
communications company would use $40 million from a “public
benefits” fund. The money for that fund would come from
Northwestel's parent company, BCE Inc., which also owns Bell Canada.
BEC was
proposing to purchase the Astral Media Inc. telecommunications empire
for $3.4 billion. CRTC rules specified that BCE needed to create a
“public benefits” fund using 10 per cent of the Astral Media
purchase price. The public benefits fund would pay for things the
free market cannot normally supply.
The SSI Group is
a competitor of Northwestel. SSI offers Qiniq, an Internet by satellite and wireless service, in Nunavut. It plans to offer VoIP
services to Nunavut in the future. SSI also provides the similar
Airware Internet network service in the Northwest Territories.
Earlier this
September, SSI accused Northwestel of planning to use the $40 million
not for the benefit of the public, but for Northwestel's own benefit
and that of Bell Canada.
Dean Proctor,
chief development officer of SSI, pointed out to Nunatsiaq News in an
interview that it would be unfair for the largest market player to
strengthen its assets in the market using money set aside from the
public good.
Northwestel told
the CRTC that it would use the Astral benefit funds from BCE to help
pay for a five-year modernization plan with a $273 million price tag.
Northwestel's
plan is to offer either 3G or 4G wireless service to the 96
communities and three territories its serves. Northwestel customers
will be able to use Apple or Android OS-powered smart phones and
tablet devices.
The plan will
also allow Northwestel to bring broadband Internet to 79 under-served
communities. Its wireless broadband services will reportedly be
capable of download speeds of at least 5 Mps.
SSI countered
that BCE and Northwestel have not proven that residents of Northern
Canada will be able to afford 3G/4G wireless and broadband Internet
services. Calling the Northwestel proposal “half-cocked,” Mr.
Proctor said that the real issue in Northern Canada is the cost of
satellite transponder space.
Mr. Dean Proctor
cited SSI's wireless modems used by Qiniq customers in Nunavut as an
example. Those modems can offer up to 6 Mbps in terms of combined
download and upload speeds. However, Mr. Proctor noted that Qiniq
customers simply could not afford using wireles and satellite
broadband for extended periods of time. Customers would likewise find
Northwestel's planned services too expensive.
He also pointed
out that Bell's proposal did not indicate how it would make satellite
costs more affordable. “They don’t have a solution for it,” Mr.
Proctor said.
Mr. Proctor
likewise scoffed at Northwestel’s 4G plan. Again citing SSI’s
existing wireless network service -which Proctor says can provide
speeds comparable to 4G,- he says that Nunavut customers will only be
able to pay for such services through subsidies provided by the
government. According to Mr. Proctor, Bell should instead design an
entirely new system.
Finally, Mr.
Proctor pointed out that public benefits funds are normally used to
pay for things like the production of independent television.
