The Yukon government is urging Canada's telecommunications regulator to ensure northern residents have access to the same internet service quality as the rest of the country at comparable rates.
Sean McLeish, assistant deputy minister of information and communications technology for the territory, told a CRTC panel on Tuesday the quality of internet service in Northern Canada, especially in rural and remote communities, is inferior to what is available throughout the rest of Canada.
“What we would like to do is see a regime that encourages competition — viable competition, sustainable competition. But we recognize that we live in a vast area with few people and that it can be challenging to provide services in some areas,” he told the commission.
"So where competition doesn't arise, we're looking for the commission to provide a framework for comparable affordability, reliability, quality, innovation because the market may not take us there.”
McLeish’s remarks came on the second day of a CRTC hearing being held this week in Whitehorse. The regulator is seeking feedback on actions it should take to improve telecommunications in communities in the Far North and to further reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
He said until there are viable market forces to provide incentive for quality improvement by the private sector, public sector intervention is needed to ensure Yukoners do not get "left behind."
An annual report released in February by Wall Communications Inc. found fixed internet prices in the Far North are "considerably higher than the rest of Canada," particularly as download speeds increase.
The report noted that options for consumers are "very limited," as Northwestel, which is owned by Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., is the only company that provides a comprehensive suite of internet services in Northern Canada.
Fixed internet rate plans can cost up to $223, on average, for speeds of 251 to 500 megabits per second in Northern Canada, compared with $97 in the rest of the country, according to the report.
"We do know that northern rates are, in general, higher than the south," said McLeish. "We're just looking for an ability to participate in a digital world in a digital economy that's the same as others in Canada."
Commissioner Claire Anderson, noting there have been calls for the CRTC to mandate wholesale high speed access in the Far North, questioned whether the regulator should do so if it can't ensure it is still profitable for Northwestel to invest in modern infrastructure, while still incentivizing wholesale internet providers to enter the market.
McLeish replied that a subsidy should be offered to northern customers potentially facing even higher retail broadband prices.
"That allows Northwestel to charge the rates that it feels is necessary to continue to invest in the north and because of that, the retail rates will potentially allow for competition to enter the market," he said.
The regulator is also hearing from several local First Nations, service providers and municipalities as part of the proceedings.
Earlier in the day, the commission heard from representatives of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun, whose community is located around 400 kilometres north of Whitehorse.
Na-Cho Nyak Dun finance director Adrienne Hill urged the CRTC to partner with Indigenous people as it develops a framework to improve internet access in the Far North.
"Reconciliation is more than just a subsidy-driven idea," she said.
"I think a reconciliatory relationship would be centred around having some participation with the CRTC in the development of these programs and these ideas, without it being just a sort of a short-term subsidy that really targets one thing."
Hill recalled a fire evacuation alert for the community last summer caused by a lightning strike that left its telecommunications systems disconnected. She said in remote northern communities, such outages leave families unable to evacuate if needed.
"I do believe that the monopolization of major telecom companies across the country have left us extremely vulnerable," she said.
"The regulator has a role to play in allowing us to not be as vulnerable as we are to when things go down or when we're forced to pay a certain thing just to have access to telehealth or certain types of education."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2023.
Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press
